Feb 20, 2023

New On News Adapted from an award-winning short story (published around the same time that Naughty Dog unleashed The Last of Us to stunned Playstation gamers) by its author at the same time he was transforming it into a novel, it received then record funding from Creative England, as well as significant support from the BFI. But while director Colm McCarthy’s (Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror) 2016 take on Mike Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts features the same heady combination of a mysterious girl, a global pandemic that will put you off mushrooms for months, controversial military and scientific involvement, solid casting, memorable makeup and special-effects and rapidly moving cannibalistic threats around every corner that has made HBO’s The Last of Us such a worldwide addiction, it essentially sank without a trace, earning a Bafta nod for Outstanding Debut, but barely earning US$4m and not even getting a proper cinema release here. READ MORE: Which is a huge shame, because it is an atmospheric and thrilling tale that has echoes of Children of Men , I Am Legend , The Road and 28 Days Later, as well as 1970s and ‘80s British TV dramas like Survivors and The Day of the Triffids, in its intimate focus, sombre visuals and bleak narrative which doesn’t pull any punches about the plight are characters are in. While it certainly doesn’t boast the production values of Last of Us, or attempt to explain how ophiocordyceps unilateralis began infecting the population, it offers complex characters whose fate it is easy to become heavily invested in. Unlike Carey’s book, which shifted perspectives between a quintet of key players, the focus in the film is on young Melanie (Sennia Nanua, in a truly impressive debut). When we first meet her, she is incarcerated and treated with extreme caution by her uniformed captors. Far from being upset or angry at her situation, Melanie is chatty and bright – and appears to know the daily routine of checks and movements better than the guards themselves. Joining a group of other strapped-in students, she appears to revel and thrive in the classes taught by Miss Helen Justineau (Gemma Arterton), pleading with her to regale them with just one more Greek legend (the story of Pandora’s Box seemingly her true favourite), before they have to go back to their cells. Initially, the cohort appear to pose no obvious threat, but when Miss Justineau is overwhelmed by the emotive power of Melanie’s attempt at writing “a fantasy” and reaches out, the reaction is swift. Sensing danger, Sergeant Parks (Paddy Considine) storms in, not only warning of the consequences, but providing an illustrative demonstration of what happens when “hungries” smell the uninfected. “You think something’s human, just because it’s vaguely the right shape,” he chides. Supplied Gemma Arterton’s Helen Justineau tries to keep her student Melanie (Sennia Nanua) safe during a “hungries” attack in The Girl with All the Gifts. Justineau also finds herself berated by the military base’s chief scientist Caroline Caldwell (Glenn Close). To her, the cognitively aware, captive children are not only the next stage in the pathogen’s life cycle, but also potentially a cure that could save what’s left of humanity. However, in order to conduct her research, some sacrifices will have to be made. As you might expect, things don’t exactly go to plan, the base is breached and Melanie finds herself on the run with Caldwell, Parks and Justineau, all desperately trying to find a way just to stay alive, let alone attempt to end the nightmare. McCarthy keeps the action set-pieces coming thick and fast, while also taking time for the players to debate the ethics of what has been taking place. Although they seem more vampiric in nature than Last of Us’ infected, they are suitably frightening and move with alarming speed (one scene involving an attack on a lab is quite brilliantly framed for maximum shock value). Supplied Glenn Close plays scientist Caroline Caldwell (Glenn Close) in The Girl with All the Gifts. In the end though, Gifts is naturally hampered by its 111-minute running-time, the need to wrap things up necessitating a paucity of storytelling and character development compared to Last of Us’ six hours so far. It also perhaps suffered from being originally released at a time of peak Young Adult dystopia, cinematic franchises like The Hunger Games , The Maze Runner and Divergent all in various stage of fizzling out after promising starts. Now, in light of Last of Us’ success, this is well worth seeking out, even if it’s just for a sneaky peek at one possible solution for how the mega-hit series’ conceit might eventually play out. The Girl with All the Gifts is now available to rent from iTunes, GooglePlay and YouTube.