Cinema: ‘Little Monsters’ Brings Zombie Genre Back To Life

Chaperoning on a school field trip is already hard enough, add in zombies, and the situation becomes almost unbearable. In Little Monsters (Abe Forsythe 2019), Dave (Alexander England) must learn to grow up when he becomes responsible for not just his own nephew, Felix (Diesel La Torraca), but for Felix’s schoolmates as well, all of whom are aged five or younger. Luckily, Dave is not alone in this immense responsibility. He’s joined by their beautiful but assertive teacher Ms. Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o). What ensues is a comedy of supernatural proportions.

Abe Forsythe is the genius director and writer behind Little Monsters. Little Monsters is his second feature length production, but more memorable than the first, Down Under (2016). Be that as it may, certain Forsythe traits are carried over. For one, Alexander England once again works under Forsythe, this time moving from a side character to the main protagonist. Secondly, Forsythe’s rather distinct style of black comedy shines through; though this time, less satirical and more sensational. Lastly, both films have won numerous awards and accolades, Little Monsters even more so given its high-profile cast. That, and the fact that it is a transnational production, borrowing funds, cast and crew members, and location shooting from England, Australia, and America.

The film originally debuted in Sundance. It had a few theatrical releases – like finding a needle in a haystack – but is currently available on Hulu. For a zombie film, there are more scenes of nursery rhymes and singing then there are actual zombie attacks. When the film opens, it’s to the sound of arguing. Dave and his girlfriend of nine years, Sara (Nadia Townsend), are constantly at each other’s throats. In fact, they might as well be metaphorical zombies for how much they verbally attack one another. After they break up, Dave is stuck living with his sister, Tess (Kat Stewart) and her son, Felix. Dave ends up agreeing to be a chaperone for Felix’s school trip to a petting zoo in a desperate attempt to impress Felix’s teacher, Ms. Caroline. The petting zoo is hosted by a children’s show entertainer, Teddy McGiggles (Josh Gad) who very clearly is impressed by Ms. Caroline’s looks. During the school trip, not too far away, there is an American military base likewise attempting to contain and restrain a large mass of groaning and shuffling individuals. Only for them, their charges are zombies, not children. The zombies are an open secret in the military base given that they were part of a failed regeneration experiment. Somehow the zombies manage to escape, and they end up disrupting the children’s field trip. It’s then that Dave must learn how to step up and protect something other than his own interests. Alongside Ms. Caroline, the two chaperones manage to convince the children that this is all an elaborate game of tag and they must avoid getting “tagged” by the zombies to win a special surprise at the end.

Initially, Dave is set up to be a bit of a loser and a slacker, though the same cannot be said about him by the end of the film. Little Monsters is a film more about personal growth than the undead. It’s as if Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright 2004) met and morphed with 500 Days of Summer (Marc Webb 2009). The film excels at causing humor through juxtaposition. Whether it’s a back to back scene of children singing Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” with the line “got nothing in my brain” interrupted by a cut to Ms. Caroline decapitating a zombie, or of zombie attacks in the background while Dave and Ms. Caroline argue in the foreground, the film is undoubtedly funny. Some of the humor, particularly in the first half, is a bit crude, especially towards the character of Ms. Caroline. She is essentially introduced as an objectified love interest, with Dave seeing her in slow motion and later pleasuring himself to her school picture. This attractive allure she has is played up for laughs, but it can be a bit uncomfortable after a while. Luckily, Ms. Caroline proves to be more than just a pretty face in the second half. She essentially juggles being Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus – singing and positivity included – and Liam Neeson’s character from the Taken (Luc Besson 2008) series. She is not only the first of the main characters to fight against a zombie, but the first overall to actually kill one. She even threatens entertainer Teddy McGiggles into behaving for the children when his excessive cursing and negativity start to upset the children. And speaking of McGiggles, it is both immensely amusing and slightly startling to hear him mention how many children’s moms he has had sex with. To truly understand the impact of his words, imagine Olaf from the Frozen (Jennifer Lee & Chris Buck 2013) franchise dropping several f bombs.

Aside from the initial treatment of Ms. Caroline and some of the excess vulgarity, not much can be nagged at about this film. In fact, it is the media advertisement and festival itself that face the most critique. Although Lupita Nyong’o and Josh Gad are the most prolific of the actors involved, they are not the main character. Dave is. Yet, despite this, both Nyong’o and Gad were heavily marketed as the main characters, to the point where it was expected for Dave to be a side character.  Additionally, Sundance – the festival here Little Monsters premiered – has faced criticism over the fact that it is supposedly meant to be a film for independent productions and filmmakers. As such, there shouldn’t be involvement from big name actors like Nyong’o – who starred in Black Panther (Ryan Coogler 2018) which grossed billions as well as the academy award winning 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen 2013) – or Josh Gad who is one of Disney’s go-to men for comedic relief.

As mentioned earlier, there is not a whole lot of gore in this film, especially for something in the zombie genre. There are two puking scenes that are more grotesque than any of the exposed organs or severed limbs. As opposed to other zombie media like The Walking Dead series (Frank Darabont 2010) or 28 Days Later (Andrew Macdonald 2002), there is more sentiment than suspense. True, there is the threat of a bombing from the American army in order to quarantine the zombies, but even this is downplayed in favor of Dave’s personal growth. A film with a large cast of children obviously can’t be very graphic in its gruesomeness, and that’s alright. Surprisingly, the children themselves are terrific additions to the story. They actually act like what they are, children, as endearing and annoying as that might entail.

Little Monsters borrows a lot from its predecessors. Much like Shaun of the Dead, the film opens with a breakup. Similar to Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero 1968), the characters are trapped inside of a locked building surrounded by zombies and must make a mad dash to available vehicles for escape. Also, most notably, the final scene is highly reminiscent of Train to Busan (Sang-ho Yeon 2016). In Train to Busan, the military avoids accidentally shooting an innocent child by hearing her sing. Likewise, in Little Monsters, the American army allows Dave, Ms. Caroline, and the school children to pass through after hearing them sing. While admittedly, Train to Busan is emotionally impactful given the deaths of nearly every main protagonist, this scene in Little Monsters is also strong, especially when one man states “I can’t shoot kids…again”.

But it’s not all dark and depression. Little Monsters ends on a high and happy note, with most everyone safe and sound and singing. It even plays on tropes, like having an explosion in the background as Ms. Caroline and Dave share their first kiss. It’s not a zombie film for major fanatics of the genre, but it is a film everyone can enjoy.

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