Plot
A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side.
Release Year: 2015
Rating: 8.3/10 (251 voted)
Critic's Score: 54/100
Director: Henry Hobson
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson
Storyline
A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side.
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger -
Wade
Abigail Breslin -
Maggie
Joely Richardson -
Caroline
Laura Cayouette -
Linda
Amy Brassette -
Lauretta
Denise Williamson -
Barbara
J.D. Evermore -
Holt
Raeden Greer -
Allie
Aiden Flowers -
Bobby
Taylor Murphy -
Candace
(as Taylor Ashley Murphy)
Dana Gourrier -
Woman In Scrubs
Wayne Pére -
George Garmen
Christine Tonry -
Sarah
John L. Armijo -
Doctor
Bryce Romero -
Trent
Trivia:
Director Henry Hobson was also the director and designer for the title sequence of The Last of Us (2013), a survival horror video game. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 7/10
2015 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: Zombies have been all the craze for quite
sometime with shows like "The Walking Dead" and films like "World War
Z" dominating the box office. I've never been such a fan of the genre
as something about the undead just hunting on human flesh never seemed
appealing. In Henry Hobson's "Maggie," where he recruits Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin as a father-
daughter pair that spend the final days together before the young
Maggie transforms into a zombie is one of the more compelling works on
the genre seen yet.
Charismatic and truly very moving at times, it's surprising to see
where debut screenwriter John Scott 3 brings this compassionate tale.
We're introduced to Maggie as her father Wade, just after finds her
after a two-week search. She's brought to their farm home where her
step-mother Caroline (played by Joely Richardson) and her two younger
siblings reside. As Maggie's transformation is sure to become erratic
and certain, the entire family sits on the edge as their beloved
daughter deals with not only her changing self, but addressing the
surroundings of her friends and a future that is now to never be.
In his most reserved and accessible performances of his career, Arnold
Schwarzenegger proves what happens when you work with some of the most
talented people in the business for decades. You're surely to pick up
some of their ticks and beats. Internalized as any performance seen by
an actor, Schwarzenegger digs deep to show the soul of a broken man,
helpless against a virus that is taking away his most precious gift. In
addition, he fights for his daughter's right to live out her final days
from the local authorities who believe she must go to quarantine, where
the infected are put to death. It's a shocking display of emotion from
the former governor of California in what will surely be a talking
piece of many following a viewing.
Oscar-nominee Abigail Breslin truly is a talent. "Zombieland," which
many will think of based on themes, kept her at an arm's distance in
terms of allowing the environment to reveal itself through her actions.
In other zombie films and TV shows, the ongoing theme and narrative is
survival. "Maggie" takes it in a different direction. You see the
deterioration of not just the person's body, but their hopes and
dreams. Breslin displays the broken heart of a girl who sees her former
boyfriend get taken away despite pleading with his father to stay just
one more day. You see the realization of her new self in the behaviors
she acquires along the way. And most importantly, and probably the most
heartbreaking, is in the final interactions with her friends and in the
truth of a future that will never come. Breslin shines like no other.
It's happy to see her stretching her acting capabilities at this point
in her career.
The technical traits of "Maggie" are spot on for the most part thanks
to director Hobson. In his feature directorial debut, Hobson hones in
on the tone of an emotional drama, not a horror film with something
extra to offer. I think back to something like M. Night Shymalan's "The
Sixth Sense" when the thrill factor was secondary to its story and
characters. Hobson captures most of those things. Cinematographer Lukas
Ettlin paints the canvas beautifully as we've seen in other efforts
like "The Lincoln Lawyer" and TV's "Black Sails."
"Maggie" is a moving drama. Echoing the moods of hard-hitting films but
with the charisma of any entertaining blockbuster you would see this
summer. It's well worth every dollar of an admission ticket and is one
of the more enthralling and captivating films of the spring.
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