THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. Like in “The Last of Us”

A film about zombies. Does anyone still have the energy for another one? Fortunately, there are people willing to do the dirty work for you — watching all the derivative junk out there to occasionally uncover something of real value. The Girl With All The Gifts is one such film.

If it weren’t for the trailer, promotional materials, and… the internet in general, we wouldn’t know until around the 20-minute mark that we’re dealing with another zombie-related production. At first, we find ourselves in a heavily guarded building resembling Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, where the military and scientists are trying to control children with superpowers. But eventually, it turns out those “superpowers” are nothing more than the classic craving for human brains.

Sheldon Cooper and his crew from The Big Bang Theory have served science (or rather, pop science) by popularizing various theoretical concepts in simple, digestible form. One of the most commonly absorbed into everyday language is the thought experiment known as Schrödinger’s cat. The creators of The Girl With All The Gifts use this to define zombies as beings that are simultaneously alive and dead — and in that single sentence lies the essence of the film and its dramatic depth. Humanity can be saved, but it requires a sacrifice: taking the life (or ersatz life) of a defenseless being.

A girl carrying a unique strain of the virus that could be used to create a cure — but extracting it would kill the host — may sound familiar to fans of video games. The film presents yet another thought experiment: the trolley problem. The situation is simple — a runaway trolley is heading toward five helpless people. You can save them by pulling a lever to redirect the trolley onto another track, where it will kill just one, equally innocent person. I won’t attempt to judge which decision is more moral (philosophers have debated this since the 1960s), but many of you have faced the same dilemma in The Last of Us.

A zombie outbreak caused by fungus resembling Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, whose spores infect ants and force them to perform specific actions — it’s the exact same backstory we encounter in The Last of Us.

Naughty Dog’s survival horror game is considered one of the greatest console titles of all time, and although you can shoot at reanimated corpses in it, the core of the story is about the struggle for humanity. It’s no surprise that director Colm McCarthy (previously known mainly for his work on series like Peaky Blinders and Sherlock) and screenwriter Mike Carey gave in to the temptation of borrowing proven storylines. This is no coincidence. A zombie outbreak caused by a fungus similar to Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, whose spores infect ants and manipulate their behavior — it’s the exact same narrative found in The Last of Us. Add to that the bleak, end-of-the-world atmosphere and the setting of a city being reclaimed by nature, and we get an almost direct copy of the game. But this isn’t meant as a criticism — the version crafted by McCarthy and Carey is very believable and engaging.

The first half of the film is gripping and draws the viewer in almost effortlessly. But things start to go downhill afterward. Melanie (a fantastic performance by Sennia Nanua, who many will compare to Eleven from Stranger Things) wanders through the city like Will Smith in I Am Legend, but too many of the dialogues contribute too little to the plot. The subplot involving pedocracy and extremely violent children (which makes the events of Lord of the Flies look like Sesame Street) feels tacked on. However, the film’s biggest issue is that we don’t really care about anyone except Melanie. We don’t get to know the characters well, even though they try to open up to us — and how can you build suspense if the audience isn’t rooting for any of the characters to survive? Even the internal relationships feel shallow. Dr. Justineau fights for the life of her young charge, but fails to form any deeper bond with her, making her actions seem irrational. The weakest performance, surprisingly, comes from Glenn Close, who seems to be following the same path as Bruce Willis or Eric Roberts — taking roles in anything and everything.

The film’s biggest problem is that we don’t really care about anyone except Melanie.

The Girl With All The Gifts is, above all, a missed opportunity — but even in this form, it’s still one of the most original zombie stories created in recent years.