Ludwig portrays Ish, a character who discovers a world where most of humanity has been wiped out. He deals with all types of emotions including anger, sadness, confusion, and more.

“Anger, for sure,” Ludwig replies to Nerd Reactor about which emotions resonate with him the most. “I would be so angry at the beginning, just at everything, and then I think I would probably fall into sadness, and then I would have to dig very, very deep to find purpose and probably do something very similar to what Ish did.”

Jessica Frances Dukes, who plays Emma, emphasized the importance of human connection in survival.

“I need community,” Dukes said. “I need people. I think that’s the biggest thing that this show, I hope, shows people: we can’t do this alone… even to grow as a person, even to challenge things within yourself, like we need each other.”

Her reflections emphasize the core theme of Earth Abides: the need for community even when the world if falling apart.

The Role of Music: A Bridge Between People

Music is an important aspect of the series, and it helped strengthen a community. When asked about songs that could bring people together, Dukes and Ludwig had personal answers. Duke brought up Beautiful Chorus, an ethereal independent radiant vocal group. One of their popular songs is “I Am” featuring India.Arie.

“It’s Beautiful Chorus… full of mantras and manifestation music… bringing you in tune with yourself and others in the universe,” Duke said.

“To bring people together… ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ is a pretty good one,” Ludwig said. It’s a classic and happy song.

A Different Kind of Apocalypse: Realism Without Zombies

Earth Abides focuses more on the real-world challenges in a post-apocalyptic setting rather than external villains.

“That was the beauty of the show,” Ludwig explained. “It’s the most true to what a post-apocalyptic scenario would look like. The monsters lie within us, and it’s about people. What happens when you have to deal with being attacked by a wild animal, because animals have retaken what was once theirs, you know, and there’s no doctors around. What happens when disease strikes? What happens when you have to give birth to your first child and you have no doctors around? These are the themes that we explore. And to me, that’s what’s most interesting. And I love the zombie flicks as much as the next guy, but this isn’t that. I mean, this is about people and community and tribes and navigating your way into this new world. To me, one of the scenes that I love most, too, is what happens when somebody in an opposing tribe doesn’t want what you’ve built or is against it. How do you govern that? Do you take a life? These are the kind of things that we explore, which I love.”

“I didn’t have to insert zombie here at any point, which I found extremely liberating,” Komnarnicki said. “It’s about people in real-time, trying to work stuff out, fall in love, and make a meal.”

Lessons from Rats and Cats

One scene that draws inspiration from George Stewart’s novel is the infestation of rats. It’s a pivotal scene that shows the power of Mother Nature.

“Humans went away, so the rats grew out of proportion,” Kearie explained. “Then the cats came in and took the rats down. It’s a theme from the book—any [species] of animals, even humans, will get knocked down by Mother Nature if it outgrows its boundaries.”

About Earth Abides

Earth Abides premieres with two episodes on December 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on MGM+.

Synopsis: In Earth Abides, when a plague of unprecedented virulence sweeps the globe, the human race is all but wiped out. In the aftermath, as the great machine of civilization slowly and inexorably breaks down, only a few shattered survivors remain to struggle against the slide into extinction.

The series stars Alexander Ludwig (Bad Boys, The Hunger Games) and Jessica Frances Dukes (Ozark) leading an ensemble cast including Aaron Tveit (Les Misérables), Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll (Priscilla, The Lie), Elyse Levesque (Ready or Not), Luisa D’Oliveira (The Painter), Birkett Turton, Hilary McCormack (Sugar Daddy) and Jenna Berman (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). Earth Abides is created and executive produced by Todd Komarnicki (Sully), alongside executive producers Kearie Peak, Michael Phillips and Juliana Maio.

Featured image caption: Alexander Ludwigh as Ish Williams in Earth Abides. Credit: Michael Courtney/MGMPlus Entertainment.

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Komarnicki rediscovered Bonhoeffer’s story later in life and shared how he connected with the historical figure:

“He just represented a kind of fierce bravery that was deeply inspirational,” Komarnicki tells Nerd Reactor. “And also made me look in the mirror and say, ‘Am I living a fully brave life? And what does that look like in this day and age?’”

The reflection of Bonhoeffer’s courage helped build the core of the film.

The Church and Nazi Germany

The horrors of Hitler’s actions included the treatment of the Jewish community and his strategy on the battlefield of World War II. The film sheds light on how Hitler planned to take over the German churches.

“The first thing [Hitler] did when he came to power was take over the churches… He removed all the crucifixes and put up swastikas in the church. He removed the Bible and put in Mein Kampf. It sounds so cartoony and bizarre that it can’t be possible, but it happened.”

Balancing History and Art

Trying to capture the life of a historical figure like Bonhoeffer and squeeze it into a film can be daunting, and as a result, creative liberties were required to make it cohesive. Other creative liberties included a spiritual metaphor; for example, a scene featuring Bonhoeffer playing music with Louis Armstrong in a jazz club:

"So here's what the facts were. [Bonhoeffer] was living in Harlem, and he was introduced to jazz by his best friend, Frank Fisher, and they went to Smalls Paradise Club a lot. All of that is fact. Louis Armstrong played at Smalls Paradise Club a lot. That is also fact. Whether they were in the building at the same time, most likely, I don't know for sure, but most likely the other thing is seeing jazz brought Dietrich's music back to him, because he had stopped playing after the death of his brother, so he hadn't played piano since he was, you know, nine or 10, and suddenly he wanted to play piano again. Music was brought back to life because of jazz and the connection between the black community and jazz and Dietrich and Europe and classical music. I thought if these guys can play music together, because he and Frank became best friends. If they can play music together, then we have that spiritual bridge where people are understanding each other on a deeper level" 

A Timely Message for Modern Audiences

Today’s world is polarized, and Bonhoeffer’s legacy is still relevant. Komarnicki reflects on the parallels between the past and present:

“As soon as you limit another person’s humanity… you don’t mind when they suffer. This is how fascism rises… and we need to be aware right now, how this happened, and what we can do about it.”

The theme that the director wanted out of the film is that of fostering compassion and fighting injustice:

“The true revolution is love… The one unstoppable weapon in the history of the world is love, because it does the thing we need. It disarms.”

About Bonhoeffer

Synopsis: When a pacifist is called to a political act that could change the course of history, how will a man of honor respond? This is the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who preached love while plotting the assassination of an evil tyrant. With world-shattering stakes, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Assassin – begs the question, how far will you go to stand up for what’s right?

The film stars Jonas Dassler as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, August Diehl as Martin Niemöller, David Jonsson as Frank Fisher, Flula Borg as Hans von Dohnanyi, Moritz Bleibtreu as Karl Bonhoeffer, Nadine Heidenreich as Paula Bonhoeffer, Patrick Mölleken as Walter Bonhoeffer, William Robinson as Eberhard Bethge and Clarke Peters as Reverend Powell Sr.

The film was released in U.S. theaters on November 22, 2024.

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