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Dystopian blend of survival horror and coming-of-age drama that's presented quite nicely to provide a reasonably absorbing and quite enjoyable watch.
Whilst there's certainly nothing on show here that hasn't been seen in various other guises the central premise of some sort of apocalyptic event and ensuing tale of survival is one that's generally of interest to me and the majority is executed well enough imo. Even with some decent support young actress Sennia Nanua is asked to carry a fair amount of proceedings on her shoulders in what is her first feature role, and generally she does remarkably well in a role that is pivotal to the film's success.
Proceedings are for the most part paced quite nicely with decent effects and even though the score does contain its share of long sonorous notes (that I think are all too often overused or misused these days) they are mostly used to good effect (ie. not always in isolation) and when needed it's actually quite effective in helping create pockets of tension/suspense.
The film is not without its weaknesses though - some of the plot elements don't really hold up to scrutiny, a fight scene between youngsters is not particularly well enacted, the small touches of light-heartedness felt unnecessary or out of place to me and the ending is both rather pat and weak imo.
The Girl With All The Gifts starts a little slowly but is a fun enough ride once the survival tale begins and even if it does feel like it rushes a little in the closing stages towards it's conclusion I'm happy enough to give it a reasonably solid +
The Girl With All The Gifts
Colm McCarthy
2016
Colm McCarthy
2016
Dystopian blend of survival horror and coming-of-age drama that's presented quite nicely to provide a reasonably absorbing and quite enjoyable watch.
Whilst there's certainly nothing on show here that hasn't been seen in various other guises the central premise of some sort of apocalyptic event and ensuing tale of survival is one that's generally of interest to me and the majority is executed well enough imo. Even with some decent support young actress Sennia Nanua is asked to carry a fair amount of proceedings on her shoulders in what is her first feature role, and generally she does remarkably well in a role that is pivotal to the film's success.
Proceedings are for the most part paced quite nicely with decent effects and even though the score does contain its share of long sonorous notes (that I think are all too often overused or misused these days) they are mostly used to good effect (ie. not always in isolation) and when needed it's actually quite effective in helping create pockets of tension/suspense.
The film is not without its weaknesses though - some of the plot elements don't really hold up to scrutiny, a fight scene between youngsters is not particularly well enacted, the small touches of light-heartedness felt unnecessary or out of place to me and the ending is both rather pat and weak imo.
The Girl With All The Gifts starts a little slowly but is a fun enough ride once the survival tale begins and even if it does feel like it rushes a little in the closing stages towards it's conclusion I'm happy enough to give it a reasonably solid +