The Girl with all the Gifts Review

The world is currently overrun with zombies, not in the literal sense thank goodness, but the zombies are deeply ingrained in the cultural zeitgeist (yeah that's right; I just pretentiously used the word zeitgeist). With The Walking Dead now in its seventh series and a spin off series in its second, it seems as though rotting corpses are hard to avoid. It's incredible then that the latest zombie flick The Girl with all the Gifts manages to bring something new to the table.

Set in a Britain overrun by infected zombie like creatures called ‘hungries’, the film focuses on Melanie (Sennia Nenua), a young girl who along with a group of other children is kept locked and restrained by some form of military outlet in what we later discover to be a bunker, all watched over by the surly Sgt. Parks (Paddy Considine). Melanie is a sweet girl who is incredibly affectionate towards her teacher Miss Jutineau (Gemma Arterton). The bases resident scientist Dr Caldwell (Glenn Close) believes Melanie might be the key to finding the cure to the infection, because Melanie and the other children are in fact young ‘hungries’ with increased mental capacities.

Zombie films work best when they are used as a mirror to reflect genuine concerns in the contemporary societies that they are made in, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead isn’t just a zombie film it’s a comment on U.S. racism, Dawn of the Dead isn’t just a zombie film it’s really a comment on consumerism, and Colm McCarthy’s The Girl with all the Gifts is much more than just a zombie film. In a world where humans are declining in numbers at a faster rate the young ‘hungries’ that Melanie represents are the future, they’re the next stage in evolution and the real reason that people like Dr Caldwell are afraid of them is because they’re afraid that their time is up and the next generation are there to replace them. It’s also about how children come to terms with what adults say is the gospel, Melanie learns to think for herself as the film goes on, and her defining revelation at the end brings the film a really stark and remarkable conclusion.

Content aside the film should be heralded for its style, though a seasoned director of television it’s hard to believe that this is Colm McCarthy’s first feature film. McCarthy adopts a lot of the style employed by Danny Boyle in 28 Days Later but also brings his own unique take on it. There are some genuinely impressive shots and set pieces that elevate this film far above its budget. There’s also a very intriguing approach taken with the ‘hungries’, the source of infection has come from plants so the design of the infected is intriguingly unfamiliar. The plant based source of infection also provides the city based sequences with a chilling Day of the triffids feel only aided by its London based setting.

Performance wise Colm McCarthy has collected and incredibly strong cast who really deliver. Paddy Considine is great as Sgt Parks, he is surly and distant but is perhaps given the biggest ark of the film in how his feelings change over the course of the film, its only Considine’s subtlety that makes it work. Glenn Close is perhaps the biggest problem with the film, she is maybe the films only living antagonist and despite Close giving it her all she is poorly written and for the most part comes across as Dr Exposition, she is the embodiment of why plot information has to be shared amongst characters otherwise you just have one lumbered with a load of information to impart every 10 minutes or so. Gemma Arterton is utterly delightful as Miss Justineau, she’s no damsel in distress and can more than hold her own alongside Sgt Parks, but there’s a grace and elegance to her that makes Melanie’s infatuation with her seem justified. Then there’s the newcomer Sennia Nenua, this film rises or falls on how good her performance is, and fortunately she’s exceptional. There is this beautiful charm to her that makes her incredibly endearing and watching her innocently discovering the world beyond the bunker is a consistent delight. But Melanie is also part monster and intelligent and calculated, there are moments when you see her munching down on a dead pigeon and a dead cat, but the most horrifying moment of the film is when she protects Sgt Parks and Miss Justineau by beating to death a feral child hungry.

McCarthy has created a really fascinating film, its small but feels much bigger, its old hat but feels completely new, it’s a complete zombie film but also isn’t a zombie film at all, at the end of it all McCarthy might well have made the film with all the gifts. (5 Stars)