Director – Colm McCarthy (Doctor Who, Ripper Street)
Starring – Gemma Arterton (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Voices), Glenn Close (The Simpsons, Mars Attacks!), and Sennia Nanua (Beverley)
Release Date – 2016
Rating – 4.5
I get press releases for a lot of movies. I cover movies ranging from budgets consisting of several million to backyard films with no budget at all. I never know what to expect but I always TRY to be open to anything sent my way. One film that I received word on several times was The Girl with All the Gifts.
The film looked very lackluster and unoriginal so I skipped on it when it was first brought to my attention. When I was contacted again and asked to review it I decided to be open minded and check it out. I have to say that I am glad that I gave the film a shot because it is easily one of the best films I have reviewed this year. It was fantastic and truly an enjoyable experience.
**Spoiler Alert** The film takes place in a world where a fungal infection that has turned everyone infected into flesh eating zombies. We follow a scientist, a teacher, and a military group who are working with special children who are half infected and half human. Their mothers were infected while they were pregnant and the children are a byproduct.
The scientist wants to use the children as a way to cure those infected but when their facility is overrun by zombies they are forced to flee and take one of the children with them. They work their way to another outpost but cross paths with a group of feral children who want nothing more but to tear their flesh from the bone.**Spoiler Alert**
The Girl with All the Gifts was not the type of film I was expecting. The film’s artwork made it look like it was a cheaply made zombie apocalypse flick centered heavily around the military like countless other films since The Walking Dead premiered. However, that was not the film I saw and I’m damn glad. The movie I watched was very unique and kept me glued to the screen.
The acting in this one is great. I hardly recognized Glenn Close as the scientist. Her character was easy to hate and she did a stand up job on her performance. I was really impressed with Sennia Nanua and her performance. She may be young but she is extremely talented. I can see her making a name for herself in the future. It was great seeing Gemma Arterton in another horror film. I really enjoyed her performance in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunter and it was great seeing her return to my beloved genre.
The story for this one is very unique and original. In a world where you can find countless zombie apocalypse flicks it is nice to see a film with a moderate budget look outside the box. The film is a little slow at times but delivers on some quality action, character development, and story.
Finally, this one has several on screen kills with some decent gore. The practical effects we do get are great. Nothing impressive but they still look good. There is some CGI that doesn’t look bad but it is very noticeable. With that being said, I did not like how it was used on the zombies to make them appear to have a bigger mouth. It looked stupid and ruined the tension the film is able to build. Overall, The Girl With All the Gifts is a must for all zombie fans. For those of you bitching about zombie flicks should really check this one out. This is one I will frequent and often.
