The Girl with all the gifts (2016)

Director: Colm McCarthy

Starring: Sennia Nanua, Fisayo Akinade, Dominique Tipper

A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie.

With so many zombie movies out there, one wonders how they can make one that feels original. ‘The Girl with all the gifts’ offers a fresh take on the genre, although – as the film progresses – it pretty much does follow in the footsteps of so many other zombie movies.

Having said that, ‘The Girl with all the gifts’ indeed is a unique zombie film, and a very stylish and effective thriller. They concentrate on substance instead of gore, and offers a captivating script and compelling characters. Melanie is a zombie character unlike any we’ve seen thus far – well portrayed by the young Sennia Nanua. It’s more disturbing seeing a child zombie feed than it is watching mature zombies.

The film starts off mysterious, luring the viewer into a post-apocalyptic world of chaos. It keeps its audience craving for more, until the story unfolds and the mystery is revealed. This is a creepy movie with action, suspense, drama, compassion and emotion. ‘The Girl with all the gifts’ is indeed a stylish zombie horror, but might disappoint die-hard zombie genre fans who want to see more zombie gore. I must admit, I do still prefer films like ’28 Weeks later’, ‘Dawn of the Dead’, and my all-time favorite zombie movie ‘Train to Busan’.

‘The Girl with all the gifts’ received 20 award nominations, winning 8. At the box office, though, the film only just managed to break even, earning just over $4 million on a $4 million budget. I guess the general public also favors zombie films with gore over style…

Would I watch it again? Not sure. Somehow I don’t think so.