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Frank & Zed

Name: Frank & Zed
Director: Jesse Blanchard
Released: 2020
Duration: 90 min

Representation Score

7.8/10

Good

2020

Director

Jesse Blanchard

Runtime

90 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Frank & Zed uses an all-puppet format to explore themes of identity and social exclusion. By focusing on monsters living on the outskirts of a doomed village, the film shifts the focus away from traditional patriarchal institutions toward underrepresented outsiders. The use of non-human characters serves as a powerful metaphor for diversity. This approach allows the film to bypass standard demographic clichés and instead examines the concept of 'otherness' through a stylized, fantastical lens. Though the film lacks explicit human demographic representation, its narrative structure successfully disrupts conventional expectations of heroism and social order by prioritizing unconventional companionship and bodily difference.

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Category Breakdown

Does Frank & Zed have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film doesn't show explicit same-sex relationships or non-cisgender identities. However, it highlights a strong, loving friendship between two non-human characters. This bond exists outside the typical straight relationship structures of the village.

How does Frank & Zed portray gender?

Fair

The story focuses on a power struggle involving a king and traditional hierarchies. However, the focus shifts to underrepresented monsters rather than patriarchal leadership. This disrupts the usual social order.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Frank & Zed?

Good

Using an all-puppet cast, the film avoids traditional human racial hierarchies. The monsters act as metaphors for otherness, reflecting underrepresented experiences through a fantastical, non-human perspective.

How does Frank & Zed represent religion and culture?

Good

The story challenges Western-style institutions like the monarchy, showing them as sources of instability. It portrays the established community as reactionary and fearful of outsiders.

Does Frank & Zed include disability representation?

Fair

Frank’s identity as a Frankenstein-type monster deals with themes of physical difference. The story values connections and companionship over traditional standards of physical perfection.

Present on Screen

Uses non-human metaphors to explore themes of social otherness.
Shifts focus away from traditional patriarchal hierarchies to underrepresented characters.
Uses puppetry to avoid standard human racial and demographic clichés.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit depictions of LGBTQ+ identities or same-sex relationships.
Does not provide specific details about neurodivergence or explicit disabilities.
Relies on non-human proxies rather than direct human representation for diversity.

Official Synopsis

Featuring an all-puppet cast, Frank and Zed tells the story of a doomed village, whose King made a fateful deal to stop a demon from destroying the village years before. Now, as the prophecy comes true upon the King’s death, the villagers brace for an orgy of blood. Living in a destroyed castle not far from the village are Frank and Zed, a Frankenstein-type monster and his brain-eating companion. As the villagers prepare for their impending doom, the two monsters are pulled into a war of epic, puppet-mutilating proportions. This debut feature film by Jesse Blanchard is a hilarious tale of misguided fears, innocent brain consumption, and a loving friendship.

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