Hungries
Trace and I spent August discussing Paul Morrissey’s melodramatic Blood for Dracula (listen), Julia Ducournau’s body horror Titane (listen), and Stephen Herek’s family creature feature Critters (listen) before kicking off September with Tim Burton’s ode to weird, Beetlejuice (listen).
For episode 299, we’ve hopped across the pond to tackle director Colm McCarthy‘s under seen contemporary zombie classic The Girl With All the Gifts (2016). In the dystopian film, young Melanie (Sennia Nanua) is restrained in a wheelchair in a top secret laboratory run by the cruel Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) and watched closely by violent Sergeant Parks (Paddy Considine).
The only bright spot in Melanie’s life is Ms. Justineau (Gemma Arterton), a young teacher who is both kindly and a little naive. When a large group of “hungries” infiltrate the base, Melanie and the others must go on the run, trying to survive in an apocalyptic world overrun by fungus-infected monsters.
Little does Melanie know that she holds the future of humanity in her hands. The only question: will she be its savior or will she bring about its downfall?
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Episode 299 – The Girl With All the Gifts (2016) feat. Carolyn Mauricette
Hide your cat and don’t say zombie because we’re talking Colm McCarthy’s 2016 adaptation of M.R.Carey’s YA novel, The Girl With All the Gifts. Along for the ride is returning guest Carolyn Mauricette!
Anchored by great performances from Glenn Close and newcomer Sennia Nanua, this dystopian “hungries” film is surprisingly complex, especially its dark/happy ending.
Plus: celebrating black girls, The Last of Us comparisons, comparisons to the book, and Melanie’s young queer love for Ms. Justineau.
Cross out The Girl With All The Gifts!
Coming up on Wednesday: it’s our 300th episode, so to celebrate we’re revisiting a film from the earliest days of the podcast on the eve of its 15th anniversary: Karyn Kusama and Diablo Cody’s collaboration, Jennifer’s Body (2009)!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 333 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01E09, Blink Twice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the American remake of Speak No Evil and, finally, our brand new audio commentary on Beck & Woods’ Haunt for its 5th anniversary.