Originally published September 20, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
The Girl with All the Gifts, 2016.
Directed by Colm McCarthy.
Starring Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close, Paddy Considine and Sennia Nanua.
SYNOPSIS:
A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie.
The Girl with All the Gifts left me feeling cold upon first viewing. It’s pessimism, and oh it’s ripe with pessimism, felt futile, an aimless attempt at ham-fisted emotional manipulation while it’s central moral quandary lacked a certain emotional heft. Yet, these problems, after a day, a week, a month began to smooth out, becoming something far more. That pessimism in turn adds layer upon layer of emotional mass to a payoff that at first seems to hint at the films redundancy, yet after time, becomes devastating.
A young girl, Melanie (an astonishing find in Sennia Nanua) sits alone in a prison cell studying an image of a kitten. She’s counting towards something, an alarm. The alarm blares, then a bang on the door. She removes herself from the bed, and begins to strap herself into a Hannibal Lecter-esque metal chair. Enter two soldiers, who attach a mask to her face and bring her into a large room filled with children all in the same position. This as they refuse to acknowledge her or any of the other children’s kind regards.
It’s revealed that a fungus like substance has reduced civilisation to “hungries,” (please, can we just call them zombies), and these children, Melanie in particular, may be the cure. Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) wants to study her, the stubborn Sgt. Parks (Paddy Considine) seems ready to kill while Miss. Justineau (Gemma Arterton) see childlike wonder. As their military base is compromised, they smuggle her out and find themselves desperately searching for a safe haven.
In an extraordinary sequence, the military base is compromised, and in a single shot, director Colm McCarthy scans the total anarchy. Bodies are torn apart, armed vehicles force their way through “hungries”, all while Miss. Justineau desperately holds onto Melanie. Even at its most violent, there is an intense feeling of the personal. Where its scope could have been far broader, McCarthy succeeds in limiting it to a mother/daughter alike central relationship.
Performances across the board are pitched almost perfectly, be it not for a strange veer away from sanity late on by Glenn Close. Gemma Arterton plays Miss. Justineau with an angelic like quality, while Paddy Considine adds tragic grit to his tough sergeant. Yet even amongst such talent, Sennia Nanua stands tall, playing Melanie with a sad naivety. To shout revelatory may seem rash, but Nanua performs with a rare blinding maturity.
As with most zombie flicks, in the background, social commentary sits awkwardly. Yet McCarthy handles what could feel heavy-handed with a deft touch. He does struggle with certain homages of which a strange reflection of Spielberg’s Hook stands out like the sorest of thumbs.
A quick note on Cristobal Tapia De Verr’s score which, similar to his mammoth Utopia soundtrack, nods towards the giallo, Goblin-like electronica of the 80s while adding immense depth. It’s one to be repeated.
The Girl with All the Gifts is at its best when a sad study of a mother/daughter relationship doomed from the very start. McCarthy at times finds optimism, but the film is truly sad, in fact, I can’t remember a film, let alone a zombie blockbuster, that ultimately plays so pessimistic. A devastating study of humanity.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Thomas Harris
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