Zombies. The concept of the flesh-eating undead hunting down and eating the living seems to be everywhere you look. From film to TV, comics to commercials, zombies have taken hold of the public interest and created a pop culture wave much like vampires and zombies did in years past. With every new iteration, these stories range from familiar to quite unique. The Girl with All the Gifts fits the latter category.
While there is plenty of blood, guts, and gore to go around, The Girl with All the Gifts spins a fresh narrative out of old cloth. Here, we have a female-driven zombie flick, with three strong female leads played excellently by Sennia Nanua, Gemma Arterton, and Glenn Close. Nanua steals the show as Melanie, a young girl who possibly hold the cure for the current zombie apocalypse that has befallen the world. She and her classmates all have the potential to save the world from what are described as “hungries” by those around them.
With each passing day, the hungries become more determined, and their desire for flesh grows more rabid. It is Melanie who may hold the key to the cure within her, but is she willing to make the ultimate sacrifice before it’s too late?
The film is engaging for many reasons but primarily due to the way the story is presented and how we experience the world through Melanie’s eyes. It is her story that drives the film, and as she discovers new things about the world and the dangers it involves, we as an audience feel her fear, her curiosity, and her pain. Sennia Nanua delivers a wonderfully depth-filled performance that has her going toe-to-toe with acting heavyweight Glenn Close and keeping up scene after scene.
The Blu-ray includes a great featurette, Unwrap the Secret World of The Girl with All the Gifts, which is gives further insight into the genesis of the film and how it went from short story, to script, to screen.
I really enjoyed The Girl with All the Gifts. I highly recommend it!
The Girl with All the Gifts is available now on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital Download.
What’s your favorite zombie movie or TV show? Leave a comment and let us know!