The child of about nine lives with his father in the forest, hidden from “the evil outside” world, off-the-grid, with hints that there might be no grid left.

They hunt and forage, set traps and makeshift alarms and hole-up in a Cold War era concrete bunker that’s seen better days. But where else would one ride out the Apocalypse?

Father (Sasko Kocev) has the glint of madness in his eyes as he teaches his son and limits his horizons. The boy (Matej Sivakov) reads from a battered picture book and imagines himself as “The Leaf Child,” “special.” He can don his headphones if the outside world gets to be too much.

But Dad’s biggest concern is that little Marko grows strong enough to chamber a round in the semi-automatic pistol he leaves the child with every day.

Dad listens to political Jeremaids (In Macodonian, with English subtitles) on a crackling shortwave radio. He drinks, and keeps handcuffs handy for when he does. The crazy eyes tell us he’s capable of violence and probably paranoid.

But I cannot overstate the disappointment that “Beyond the Wasteland,” titled “M” in its European release (after Marko’s hand tattoo) turns out to be just another “After the Zombie Apocalypse” thriller.

“‘M’ is for Marko, Mother,” and so on, the child recites. M is for “Macedonia,” too. Vardan Tozija’s survivalist thriller becomes an undead parable about humanity’s capacity for dehumanization and the dangers of anti-immigrant demagogues.

That doesn’t paper over the fact that it’s depressingly conventional in plot and genre. It’s just a Macedonian zombie movie, and no more ambitious than most of the other films that followed “Night of the Living Dead.”

Marko is already afraid of his father when he figures out that the world “outside” isn’t all evil. He stumbles across special needs child Miko (Aleksandar Nichovski) and his mother (Kamka Tocinovski).

The boys can sneak off and share toys (batteries last longer after the apocalypse than they do now). But Marko dare not reveal this to his Dad. We and he can guess how that will turn out.

Blood will be shed, children will flee and “the evil ones” will be confronted and (over) explained. The allegory is hammered home.

But even though it’s a good-looking film, and grim enough, even if there is some suspense despite story beats so cut-and-dried that they will surprise no one, even though the child star is impressive in this setting, “Beyond the Wasteland” never escapes its “Been there, seen that, got the allegory” burden.

Honestly, the cinema was almost zombied-out before “The Walking Dead,” and the symbolic, slow-walking horror isn’t any fresher now, after “Maggie” and “World War Z” and scores of other variations on families trying to survive zombies/children in Zombieland theme.

Rating: unrated, violence

Cast: Matej Sivakov, Sasko Kocev,
Aleksandar Nichovski and Kamka Tocinovski

Credits: Directed by Vardan Tozija, scripted by Darijan Pejovski and
Vardan Tozija. A Well Go USA release.

Running time: 1:39