Are you sick of zombies? I’m sick of zombies. My first reaction to a new zombie movie is generally the kind of fake enthusiasm that I reserve for saying hello to Nick because they usually follow the same predictable story beats.
But every now and again a zombie movie comes along that aims to try something new, and The Girl With All The Gifts (based on the 2014 novel by Mike Carey) is promising to do just that.
The official plot synopsis is as follows:
The near future; humanity has been all but destroyed by a mutated fungal disease that eradicates free will and turns its victims into flesh-eating “hungries”. Only a small group of children seem immune to its effects.
At an army base in rural England, this group of unique children are being studied, subjected to cruel experiments by biologist Dr. Caldwell. Despite having been infected with the zombie pathogen that has decimated the world, these children retain normal thoughts and emotions. And while still being subject to the craving for human flesh that marks the disease these second- generation “hungries” are able to think and feel making them a vital resource in the search for a cure.
The children attend school lessons daily, guarded by the ever watchful Sergeant Parks. But one little girl, Melanie, stands out from the rest. Melanie is special. She excels in the classroom, is inquisitive, imaginative and loves her favourite teacher Miss Justineau.
When the base falls, Melanie escapes along with Miss Justineau, Sergeant Parks and Dr. Caldwell. Against the backdrop of a blighted Britain, Melanie must discover what she is and ultimately decide both her own future and that of the human race.
Well based on that trailer I think they’re delivering on that promise – this looks really interesting. Not only is it visually impressive, it has a good cast who don’t act as if they’re coasting along in “just another zombie movie”, and the story looks to have a decided original slant. I was also somewhat surprised by just how far they appear to be going with their treatment of the infected children – something that’s fairly taboo in movies.
This is the first zombie movie (no, I’m not calling them hungries) that I’ve been really keen to see in a long time. How about you, what do you think?
The Girl With All The Gifts is due for release in the UK on 23 September. Directed by Colm McCarthy (Peaky Blinders, Sherlock), it stars Sennia Nanua, Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close and Paddy Considine.
Last Updated: June 22, 2016
Her Highness the Hipster
June 23, 2016 at 07:54
the book was… okay. I liked it for a while, until it became too much of a cliched zombie story for me. I hope they do more with the movie to keep it solid through to the end.