Review of The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) by Orlando O — 02 May 2017

The Girl with All the Gifts breaks away by adding something different to the zombie horror genre. Now I am not sure, if its just a tiresome genre or this different type of zombie film was just a miss from being entertaining. This film started out great, and had a different concept that has not been used yet such as fungal disease that has caused the apocalypse and zombies known as "hungries." And than there is children, who are infected and craves for the living but are able to think and learn. That's not a bad start learning the direction on were the movie is going.

The plot follows Helen (Gemma Arterton) a teacher, who is the instructor to a group of kids at a military base. These kids are locked in cells and prepare themselves to be restraint on chairs and know the drill on when classes begin. Then, there is a bright student Melanie (Sennia Nanua) that Helen grows fond of. Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) is a scientist that is trying to find a way to reverse this disease by putting these kids through experiments. When everything falls apart, as the zombies break into the military base. And Helen and Melanie are tagged along with Sgt. Eddie (Paddy Considine) and Dr. Caldwell as they escape the base. Their goal is to find the next beacon on were the military base is and to survive the apocalypse.

It had a great concept idea with the whole fungal disease turning people into zombies and how the stages of the disease is evolving with pods that grow around buildings that eventually release pores. Sounds similar to a video game like The Last of Us. The Girl with All the Gifts is based on a novel which tried to throw a spin to the zombie genre involving the second generation of children that seem normal but have an appetite for the living.

Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine, and Glenn Close are decent with their performances. The script by M.R. Carey does not add any characterization to the characters, which makes them quite dull and forgettable. Sennia Nanua who plays Melanie, did a decent job with her character as well.

The film started out good but it all comes crumpling so fast in the second act to the end. Basically, when Helen and Sgt. Eddie are rescued by Melanie as she becomes the alpha against these group of zombie children. And she is all roaring at the zombie kids, which becomes cheesy and ridiculous on were the direction goes from there. The ending is just dumb without giving away spoilers but it turned a horror drama film that could have had potential into a ridiculous movie. I will not recommend this film to any fans of the zombie genre. Sure, there are other better films either like 28 Days Later or its sequel. Or even Dawn of the Dead that is by far the best so far.

Overall, The Girl with All the Gifts is a boring film that had a great idea but it does not go anywhere with its lackluster script, dull acting, and a direction that went from being a thriller to laugh out loud stupid ending.