When Sartre said that “hell is other people,” he surely wasn’t accounting for rogue fungi. Still, though, in "The Last of Us," a world in which the majority of the population has been turned into killer monsters by a Cordyceps brain infection, people are still the main threat. In a world where violent skills ensure endurance, only the strong survive.
It’s been over two years since we last journeyed through the apocalyptic wastelands of America with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), so let’s take a beat for a refresher. Based upon the Naughty Dog video game of the same name, "The Last of Us" follows a man named Joel who reluctantly agrees to guide a 14-year-old girl named Ellie to safety. The goalposts for this journey keep moving as every group they encounter is either in severe distress or dead. Like most narratives of societal collapse in the face of a worldwide pandemic, there doesn’t seem to be much hope. But a wise man once said, “No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for.” (Joel. It was Joel who said that.)
