It seems like whenever I’m at a point where I feel like writing off any zombie movie, something comes around that takes me by surprise. With recent examples like The Girl With All The Gifts, Cargo, Overlord, and One Cut Of The Dead, the genre still has some life left in it, and the latest addition to the genre is the Australian comedy, Little Monsters, which is from writer/director, Abe Forsythe. Most are probably not aware of him, but I was lucky enough to see his previous film, Down Under, at a film festival a couple years back, and it was excellent, though sadly not available to watch anywhere at the moment.
Little Monsters follows Dave (Alexander England), a slacker who just went through a pretty rough breakup, and now stays with his sister, Tess (Kat Stewart), and nephew, Felix (Diesel La Torraca). However, he becomes smitten by Felix’s kindergarten teacher, Miss Audrey Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o), and as a way to spend more time with her, he agrees to be a chaperone for an upcoming field trip. Him being an awkward weirdo that he is, he struggles in making a strong impression.
While all this is going on, there just so happens to be a U.S. army testing facility near the petting zoo where the kids are going. The facility experiences a breach, which results in zombies breaking out, and heading straight to the petting zoo. Dave and Audrey are forced to take action in order to protect the kids, while also dealing with a visiting children’s television show personality, Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad), who turns out to not be anywhere near as pleasant as he presents himself to be.
Forsythe takes full advantage of its setup, playing with the contrast between the danger of the zombies and the activities and games that are used to keep the children in the dark regarding what exactly is going on. From telling the kids that the “funny looking people” are it, and needing to stick together to avoid being tagged to singing Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” to make everyone feel better.
Forsythe’s Down Under was a dark comedy that did a wonderful job at balancing the humor with social commentary, and he does an equally great job at balancing the zombie action with the cast of quirky characters. It’s just a blast to watch, it’s very funny and clever, and the banter is sharp and moves fast, and Forsythe doesn’t waste a lot of time with his plotting, keeping the film at a tight 93 minutes.
In addition to that, Forsythe doesn’t just treat it as fluff, he takes the characters seriously, he takes their emotions seriously, and he genuinely cares for them. This allows the cast to do some really great work. Nyong’o, being one of the very best actors working today, is stellar here as the lovable ukulele-playing teacher who is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the kids safe. England gets a solid arc that revolves around him coming to terms with his flaws, and having to take responsibility. Gad delivers his best performance as the impressively obnoxious and foul mouthed host who is desperate to get out of the souvenir shop, where he’s stuck with the kids.
There is a ticking clock element to the film where the United States army is planning on bombing the souvenir shop so that the blast can destroy all the zombies contained in the outbreak zone, which would also kill all our characters. None of them are aware of this, and when the film cuts away to the military, it only serves as a way to serve exposition to the audience, without much else going for it. It feels like the one thing in an otherwise tightly constructed film that felt superfluous.
Little Monsters is a very straightforward and simple crowd pleaser, but underneath all that simplicity is a complex balance of varying tones and energies. It’s not just incredibly funny and gory, it’s surprisingly sweet, charming, and earnest, and it cares for its characters. It’s a thoroughly delightful watch, and one that’s accessible to people who might not normally be into zombie movies. With Little Monsters, Abe Forsythe cements himself as a gifted comedic filmmaker that demands your attention, and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.