In short, it’s an intelligent zombie story, which focuses more on the political machinations and questions of humanity than it does on the typical gore and roar. The film starts out with a rather jarring opening scene – a young girl, Melanie, in a prison cell, who is strapped into a wheelchair at gunpoint at the start of the day. She is then wheeled into a classroom with her fellow students, who are similarly restrained.
Turns out, in this horrifying near-future, humanity has been virtually eradicated by a mutated fungal disease that has turned its victims into our flesh-eating zombies. However, a small group of infected children, including Melanie, seem immune to its effects, and are the subject of somewhat horrifying experiments on a barricaded army base. When the base falls, Melanie, her favorite teacher Miss Justineau, the cold biologist Dr Caldwell and the jaded, mistrustful Sergeant Parks are forced to stick together in their attempts to survive.
Starring Sennia Nanua, Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close and Paddy Considine, and directed by Colm McCarthy, The Girl With All The Gifts looks to be a riveting, alternative take on the rather bland and overdone zombie genre. (I would recommend reading the book first, however, if you get a chance!)
The Girl With All The Gifts is set for release September 23rd 2016.
