It’s been a while since we’ve had a fresh take on the undead, but Lionsgate Films unleashes a new outbreak in The Girl with All the Gifts, in theaters this Friday, February 24. Directed by Colm McCarthy and adapted from a novel by Mike Carey, The Girl with All the Gifts immediately evokes other zombie classics like 28 Days Later. (In true zombie genre form, though, they’re called something else—in this case, “hungries.”)
The Girl with All the Gifts focuses a lot on the science of the outbreak. How did this happen, how does the disease progress and what can we do to reverse it? These zombies are fast, adaptable, and worst of all—some of them are smart. What will become of the human race as we know it?
It has been ten years since the zombie apocalypse when we open on a young girl in a prison cell. Two armed soldiers strap her into a chair and roll her off to class with other kids just like her. The film has you wondering for quite a while at the meaning of all of this, which only adds to the intrigue.
Sennia Nanua gives a breakthrough performance as the young prodigy Melanie. The film also stars Gemma Arterton as the schoolteacher with heart and Paddy Considine as the tough military man. Finally, we get Glenn Close as Dr. Caroline Caldwell, a formidable woman who’s able to sidestep her empathy for the collective needs of the remaining human race. For fans of zombie films, science-fiction and post-apocalyptic nightmares, The Girl with All the Gifts won’t disappoint.
The Girl with All the Gifts plays at AMC Southcenter in Tukwila and is available streaming On Demand.
