The Girl with All the Gifts film review: a glorious new take on zombie films…

Zombies, the dead, walkers, rot-bags, young ‘hungries’ or whatever you wanna call them, the dead are always in our nightmares, on our screens, in our life.

And this fiercely intelligent British chiller from Scottish director Colm McCarthy, whose small-screen credits include Doctor Who, Sherlock and Peaky Blinders, breathes new life into age-old horror tropes, taking familiar fears of zombies, the apocalypse and eerie children and spinning them in surprising ways.

Although writer Mike “MR” Carey’s narrative about a fungal plague that turns victims into cannibalistic “hungries” occupies a post-28 Days Later landscape, the central obsessions explored here are all-new daunting and will leave an imprint on your psyche even after the film finishes.

We open in disorienting fashion as a young girl in a prison cell settles herself into a manacled wheelchair, awaiting the arrival of armed guards.

The girl looks harmless. She has kind eyes and a sweet smile. She speaks politely to the armed guards who come to retrieve her from her prison cell. She’s the star student in her jailhouse class.

But there must be a reason she’s always shackled to a wheelchair, and why the prison guards keep assault rifles trained on her at all times.

There is.

This is Melanie (arresting newcomer Sennia Nanua), one of several similarly shackled children whose confinement seems inexplicable – until one of them tries to bite the forearm of Paddy Considine’s military martinet Sergeant Eddie Parks.

Infected by – yet partly resistant to – a zombifying plague that has ravaged the world and these strangely dangerous kids are now being held as the key to a possible cure.

But while Dr. Caroline Caldwell (Glenn Close) sees them as specimens to be cultivated and cut up, psychologist/teacher Helen Justineau (Gemma Arterton) believes in their essential humanity (“they’re only children”) and delights them with tales of Greek myths.

When their rural army base is besieged, this warring group embarks upon a road trip towards London, during which Melanie’s true nature will be doubted, fought over and gradually revealed.

The ambiguous humanity of zombies — the porousness of the boundary between us and them — is a staple of the genre. When the inevitable crisis arrives, sending Melanie and Ms. Justineau on a perilous journey in the company of a research scientist (Glenn Close) and two soldiers (Paddy Considine and Fisayo Akinade), “The Girl With All the Gifts” settles into a familiar rhythm.

Sessions of flesh-eating and hungry-slaughter alternate with slow-burning philosophical debates.

Melanie is both necessary to the survival of her companions since her fellow ‘hungries’ won’t bother her, and an existential threat to the human race.

Caldwell’s scenes with Melanie explore The Girl With All the Gifts’ strongest ideas. If Melanie’s tissues can save the world, should she be put to death? If she eats flesh and blood (and sometimes human flesh and blood) but still has emotions and the capacity for thought, is she a monster or a person?

Melanie’s battles with Dr. Caldwell also make the film a timeless story about the struggles between generations. Should the old be wiped out to make room for the new?

While Ms. Justineau insists on treating her more as a protégée than a potential predator. While Dr. Caldwell, the scientist, sees her as a useful laboratory specimen, while the soldiers view her as a devious and powerful enemy.

They keep her handcuffed except for reconnaissance missions; on one, Melanie devours a stray cat (oh blimey!)

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This movie is the culmination of the zombie film. From the writing to the cinematography, nothing feels out of place. The characters are exceptional and the entire cast is really solid. The lead actor, Sennia Nanua, makes the role. She has made a genre film that will only get better with time.

Whatever your thoughts on its ending, you have to give the movie credit. 4/5 STARS