Lupita Nyong'o is one of the greatest working actresses of today and film after film, she continues to impress me with the layers that she can bring to even simple characters. Abe Forsythe's Little Monsters is the perfect example of this, as Nyong'o once again plays a role that, at first, seems very unconventional of her. This film is a delightfully simple horror-comedy that is effective in all of the best ways possible. An excellent cast, original premise, and great world-building all lend themselves to making this film so quirky. It's very difficult to top the balance of genre that Shaun of the Dead perfected so many years ago, but this movie comes pretty close. I loved how much unexpected fun this cast had in this world and many of its creative choices were extremely interesting. Thankfully, the good elements of this movie are bright enough to outshine where the direction and script could have been better. Regardless, it is almost impossible not to at least have fun with this one. (It's even out on Hulu later this week!)
Dave (Alexander England) is a down-on-his-luck musician who, after getting broken up with by his girlfriend, moves in with his sister Tess (Kat Stewart) and nephew Felix (Diesel La Torraca). Upon meeting his nephew's kindergarten teacher, known to the students as Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong'o), Dave decides to chaperone the class trip to a local farm. Things go awry, however, as a zombie outbreak occurs and the two of them struggle to keep an entire class full of 5-year olds alive. One thing about this film that really stood out to me was a point in the script in which an army general casually responds with "oh, it's zombies again, sir." While multiple other laid-back jokes like these were played out by the military characters, it really helped to build this world. Not many, if any, zombie films portray their story in a world where outbreaks can be just like the flu. Little Monsters, however, plays with its Edgar Wright-esque world like that in the greatest ways. These characters seem to be used to zombies, which makes the innocence of childhood and survival themes much more prominent. Forsythe's script makes these interesting themes instantly relatable by giving his characters such distinct personalities that are difficult not to love. The contrast between keeping cool with the students and being a tough leader definitely made way for Nyong'o's standout performance as well. It is so refreshing to see her try her hand at something like comedy and she absolutely nails it. Nyong'o takes a teacher trope and amplifies it into an incredibly engaging character. Along with England's decent character development and an excessively profane kids show host named Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad), these characters help to elevate this basic story into something greater than it has any right to be.
The character of Miss Caroline, while performed beautifully, should have been given the main spotlight as our lead protagonist. The audience is set up to feel for and follow Dave's story the entire time and I feel like Nyong'o was woefully misused as a supporting character when she's on the poster for God's sake. I feel like a lot of this comes from Forsynthe's direction and lack of focus on what kind of story he was trying to tell. While Little Monsters nails the horror-comedy combination, it can't quite strike a balance between the two. The transitions between genres felt far too jarring and the pacing was completely out of wack. After watching this film in a theater with a pitiful amount of other people during its one-night run, it became pretty obvious to me as to why Hulu bought and is distributing it. This entire movie (which was shot more than two years ago!) is shot just like a TV movie, from Lachlan Milne's cinematography to the quick and unassuming editing by Jim May and Drew Thompson. It is a rarity that I find a film is better suited for a smaller, television screen than in a theater, but Little Monsters was indeed that rarity. I feel as if the small-scale environment of this story made the production of the movie feel smaller as well, which only minimized my enjoyment of what could have been a more impressive technical prowess. Luckily, it's hard not to simply enjoy yourself with this movie and the Q&A after my screening solidified that the cast and crew did just that.
Little Monsters is a fun if also mildly forgettable zombie film that shows off Nyong'o's talents more than anything else, despite weak direction and lack of focus. It is so amazing to be able to live in the era where she can experiment with her roles and now that she's dipped her toes into comedy, I can't wait for more. Paired with her scene-stealing performance and amusing script, this movie is a solid addition to the playfully naive zombie-comedy genre.
My Rating: ★★★½
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