Over the past few years, moviegoers have clocked eyes on girls with dragon tattoos and unassuming girls riding along on trains, but in 2017, director Colm McCarthy will introduce The Girl With All the Gifts,
Otherwise known as Melanie, in McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic thriller, Sennia Nanua’s gifted individual is at once our greatest threat and only hope. Forced to undergo a series of harrowing experiments at a military base in rural England, it’s here that Nanua’s youngster begins to display a handful of those special gifts, placing the likes of Miss Justineau and the gruff Sergeant Parks – Gemma Arterton and Paddy Considine, respectively – on red alert.
And though it may tout many of the tried-and-tested tropes of the zombie genre – the barren, bleak environments, the Messiah figure – The Girl With All the Gifts has been scoring positive reviews ahead of its bow later this month. M.R. Carey’s acclaimed horror novel is the inspiration, and we’re intrigued to discover how McCarthy’s adaptation finds wiggle room in a genre that is bursting at the seams with cheap imposters and recycled ideas.
The Girl With All the Gifts will debut via DirecTV on January 26, before expanding to VOD and select theaters on February 24. Glenn Close and Anamaria Marinca also star.
The near future: humanity has been all but destroyed by a fungal disease that eradicates free will and turns its victims into flesh eating “hungries.” Only a small group of children seem immune to its effects. At an army base in rural England, this group of unique children are being studied and subjected to cruel experiments. But one little girl, Melanie, stands out from the rest.
When the base falls, Melanie escapes along with Miss Justineau (Gemma Arterton), Sergeant Parks (Paddy Considine), Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) and two other soldiers. Against the backdrop of a blighted Britain, Melanie must discover what she is and ultimately decide both her own future and that of the human race.