In terms of remixes that fall in line with the allure and melodrama of adolescence narrative, Warm Bodies is probably the most radical. This adaptation, instead of simply being a modernized setting, is post-apocalyptic. At the peak of the 2010s' zombie revitalization, Warm Bodies follows the barely-sentient zombie R, who cannot remember his real name. R and his best friend, M, join the other undead who are populating an abandoned airport. It’s been eight years since the apocalypse, and the divide between the living and the undead is extremely polarized. The zombies feed on human brains, and, as showcased though R, can see and experience the humans’ memories during their feast.

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On a search for food, R runs into the captivating Julie Grigio, a human belonging to a cordoned enclave, on her own hunt for medical supplies. Fascinated by Julie, R takes her captive after feeling his heart beat for the first time in almost a decade. While Julie is initially terrified by R—a complete role-reversal from the fast and quick romance of the original text—she slowly starts to understand he isn’t intending to harm her, and they begin to bond. R gets Julie food, and they listen to music together, all while Julie becomes more trusting and R becomes more human. When Julie gets restless, R takes her back to her human enclave, much to the confusion (and betrayal) of M and the other undead. Along the way, however, R reveals he has killed off Julie’s boyfriend Perry, and Julie, horrified, runs away, abandoning R on the outside. And, with R’s increased humanity, he becomes more and more of a target from the Boneys—skeletal zombies that are past the point of no return. R returns to the human enclave, looking for both Julie and protection, trying to warn her father that they’re in danger. Julie’s friends are shocked at how human R has become, but her father threatens to kill him, with only Julie’s best friend Nora standing in between R and the bullet. R and Julie narrowly escape, running to a baseball field that has been overrun with Boneys. In a desperate attempt to save Julie, R grabs her and jumps into a pool, and when they ascend to the surface, they kiss. Colonel Grigio appears and shoots R in the shoulder, but to everyone’s surprise—and delight—R starts bleeding, signifying that he’s been turned back fully human. The humans and the undead join forces, killing off the rest of the Boneys to make the city a better place, and eventually, the other zombies become human again as well. The movie ends with R and Julie, fully human, watching the wall around the city come down, the apocalypse no more.

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This remix is by far the loosest adaptation—the biggest similarities to the original text are the changed names of R and Julie and the trope of forbidden love—but it too hinges on the ultimate prospect of adolescence and how transcendent Shakespeare’s storyline continues to be. This hyper-modern context, while only reminiscent of the original text in comparison to the other teenage-driven adaptation, showcases that Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet isn’t just inherent to human nature in a singular society—it transcends even the apocalypse, and will still be just as relevant with zombies, or any other post-apocalyptic reality we’ve imagined, even after our modern culture is too a thing of the past.