The Girl with All the Gifts

Directed by Colm McCarthy
Released in 2016
Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller
Themes of death, apocalypse, knowledge, science, danger, survival

Mise-en-scene: The colour green was very consistent throughout this movie. There were few scenes were there wasn't a sickly green or grey tone on most props, costumes or just the air in general. Most scenes looked infected, and considering this is a zombie film which is primarily focused around a deadly infection being the biggest obstacle, this was purposeful and used to create a gnawing effect at the audience that the ever-present possibility of turning into a 'hungry' is becoming increasingly more likely as the danger increases. For example when the main group that the film follows has to sneak through a horde trying to stay as quiet as possible as not to alert the 'hungries', even the lighting had a green sort of tint to it. There was also moss everywhere, adding to the green colour scheme as well as making the landscape seem more abandoned like it hadn't been touched in years, which furthered this sense of an apocalyptic world where very few people still live.
Image result for the girl with all the gifts

Sound: I'm not sure if the feral growls and snarling was made by the actor's or if it was added in post-production but either way, it was scary and made the 'hungries' seem like much more of a threat. They were animals that wanted to eat and had no regard for anything else. Especially not human life. A reoccurring event in the film is the protagonist, Melanie, being questioned about her humanity as she also craves human flesh but can still think and feel like a normal human. Taking this into account, making her and other 'hungries' as well as children who are the same as her (craving flesh but still being able to think and feel) sound so mindless and feral once they get hungry makes even us question it. These are scary creatures. They want to devour us. Even these children, as innocent as they are, want to devour us. It's in their nature. They can't help it. So we're torn between siding with Melanie and her innocent, child-like wonder, especially since she's so mentally gifted and the survival of the humans who are in danger by keeping her around. All these emotions are being carried just by hearing the primal noises from these creatures.

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