Melanie: apocalipsis zombie

... from the U. K., directed by Colm McCarthy. After an alien fungus has decimated the Earth's population, transforming anyone not an infant into a mindless zombie-like creature with a taste for human flesh, a contingent of British soldiers and scientists are hard at work trying to find a cure. Their hope lies with a group of children, all of whom were infected as infants, and who have grown up without the usual zombie-like symptoms. They appear and act normally, but they still can be overcome by a taste for living flesh that turns them violently animalistic. When the base falls to overwhelming numbers of the infected, a small group consisting of the most accomplished girl from the ranks of the children (Sennia Nanua), a sympathetic teacher (Gemma Arterton), a gruff sergeant (Paddy Considine), a new recruit soldier (Fisayo Akinade), and the coldly calculating head scientist (Glenn Close) head into the ruins of London to search and rescue.

I'm always surprised when filmmakers can find something new to do with a zombie movie, and they've done it again here. Newcomer Nanua is terrific as the precocious infected girl who is happy to be in the outside world for the first time, little realizing the destruction all around her. Arterton, Considine and Close are all fine, as expected. I know most viewers are burned out on zombie flicks (and TV series), but this one is worth a look.

Certainly not your typical cliched zombie flick, it pulls no punches, is well acted and tells a well paced story with a good premise. Thoughtful portrayal of humanity. A movie with well thought-out ideas and integrity. The first 20 minutes is absolutely compelling, the rest ... not exactly a feel-good movie, but unflinchingly remaining true to its foundational ideas. Strong characters, superb music and great potrayal of overgrown post-apocalypyse city.

Excellent performances and interesting source material (MR Carey adapting his own novel), plus imaginative direction (Scottish director Colm McCarthy), create a chilling sci-fi tale of hungries (zombies) versus humanity.

The opening sequence sets the tone. Melanie, a young, polite, and courteous girl manacles herself into a wheel chair. She seems entirely innocent and harmless, yet her captors fear otherwise. She and other children, each similarly restrained, are given an armed escort to a classroom. It's an arresting start and it grabs our attention. Sennia Nanua plays Melanie and the story revolves around her. We watch society collapsing through her eyes, see her threatened by the human beings around her, and fear for her. We watch her do terrible things, and yet we root for her. Everything is uncertain. Nothing is as it seems. It's a brilliant performance from a new talent, and it serves the film perfectly.

Melanie is surrounded by contrasting emotions from those nearest to her. Gemma Arterton is excellent as protective and caring psychologist/teacher Helen Justineau, fiercely defending Melanie against the machinations of Dr Caroline Caldwell (Glenn Close) who sees Melanie as a specimen to be dissected. Paddy Considine convinces as Sergeant Eddie Parks, a tough, no- nonsense soldier fighting a losing battle.

Colm McCarthy brings this all together superbly, belying the film's modest budget. Striking visuals and frenetic action are never allowed to overwhelm the characters, who take centre stage. And at it's heart is Melanie. Confusing, ambivalent, terrifying, lovable Melanie. It's a wonderful turn from Sennia Nanua.

Highly recommended, and vastly superior to most of the genre.

I'm really aggravated by people who think this was a "boring zombie movie" that "wasn't scary." Look... the movie is called THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. It's a movie about a girl... who happens to be a zombie... and her desire to come to terms with who she is, and her right to live in spite of it. NO it's not full of scares and gory zombie kills... that's not what it's about. If you can appreciate a good story about a little girl who happens to be a zombie then you'll see the beauty in this film. There still GREAT zombie action though... It was very well done, had an excellent cast, and Sennia Nanua shined.

Full commentary WITH spoilers on YouTube/Twitter @moviebuffchick1

https://youtu.be/wwm1nWFOwBI

Before The Waking Dead came along, people thought the zombie subgenre was dead in the water. The zombie films for the most part just weren't able to capture the right tone and essence. So even though there's been a million of them and most of them are much of the same thing, I always appreciate the ones that bring something new and fresh to the genre. The Girl With All the Gifts does just that.

The British post-apocalyptic film takes place after most of the world has been decimated to due to an unknown fungal disease, with only a few military bases left. The twist here is that on this military base is a group of second generation children who are infected with the disease but are under control of their senses for the most part. That is, when they aren't smelling human flesh.

After several life threatening sequences, a few soldiers, a teacher, and one of those second generation children (named Melanie) embark on a trek to get to the next safe zone, with their base being overrun by zombies (or hungries as they call them). Melanie, a seemingly more intelligent and aware child, forms a special bond with the teacher, named Helen Justineau and played by Gemma Arterton. This is the one human connection that I think is worth caring about. Since you don't get much backstory on the soldiers, including one played well by Paddy Considine, you are almost forced into caring for the two. And that's the one thing I was constantly hoping we would get more of, character depth and backstory. It just becomes difficult to figure out who you're going to root for when you don't have much in way of their backstory to think about.

With that said, I appreciated that this film involved a different approach to the zombie genre. Yes, there is the subplot involving someone looking for a cure (which is always something that comes up) but the more calculated approach to the pacing, and reserved display of gore, The Girl With All the Gifts feels like a fresh entry into the genre. Heck, have we ever had our lead character be an second generation infected child? Just by those standards this was something original.

7.1/10