The Girl with All the Gifts

Part coming-of-age drama and part post-apocalyptic zombie thriller, this big-screen adaptation of Mike Carey's 2014 bestseller never really finds its groove. One of its biggest issues is the absence of any real tension. The undead hordes that have run amok after the outbreak of a fungal virus could barely be less menacing. They produce more laughs than scares, particularly when they first get a whiff of tasty human flesh and their teeth start chattering like the cheap wind-up toys you find in joke shops. It also doesn't help that the uninfected can essentially make themselves invisible by applying a scent-masking hand gel. Who knew Purell could work such wonders?

The uneven tone gets in the way too. If you're struggling to generate tension as it is, constantly chucking in gags and comic-relief spots is a very dangerous game to play. Yes Paddy Considine is good value as the pissed-off sergeant reluctantly babysitting a ragtag group of survivors, but his weary, eye-rolling ways are also part of the problem. So is the presentation of another character you're supposed to care about as a hopeless dope complicit in his own downfall, especially when it doesn't make a great deal of sense. You'd think witnessing the zombie apocalypse would knock the childlike innocence and naivety right out of you. Apparently not.

Still, there are some interesting ideas in the mix. The titular girl is Melanie (Sennia Nanua), one of a handful of young 'hungries' kept under lock and key and experimented on in the hope of finding a cure. Unlike most of her mindless, brain-hungry brothers and sisters she's able to think and feel like us, although she still needs to feed. When she escapes the confines of her concrete prison this split in her identity produces some nice little moments. One minute she's excitedly changing out of her Guantanamo Bay -esque jumpsuit and putting on something more appropriate, the next she's ripping the head off a cat and getting blood all over her nice new outfit.