Come for the zombie porn, stay for the art. Bruce LaBruce, the king of shock and “ew,” is at it again in this treatise on flesh and alienation in urban L.A. Porn star and model François Sagat plays the titular zombie, stumbling through a bleak cityscape in search of connection and resurrection — through hardcore sex.

As the zombie rises from the ocean in the beginning of the film, LaBruce stakes his claim on the idea of rebirth. But it’s not until the zombie starts his rampage that the true concept becomes clear. By humping the orifices of the already dead and destitute, Sagat’s zombie becomes more human. Monstrous acts make him less of a monster, an argument against sexual repression if one ever existed. From homeless junkies to murdered criminals, the victims seem to be as marginalized as the zombie. And it’s this thesis that makes the sum of the film more than its parts. As the zombie wanders around the city between sexual encounters, we are offered both relief from a violent visual onslaught and ruminative artistic shots. Cutting between shots of Sagat as zombie and Sagat as human are jarring but effective in communicating that anyone can become an outsider, even if we aren’t enthusiastically violating others’ chest wounds.