Little Monsters: Film Review

The zombie genre has been done to death (pun intended) but somehow Australian zombie comedy Little Monsters manages to feel fun and fresh.

Lupita Nyong’o leads the cast as Miss Caroline, a lovely kindergarten teacher. When one of the parents drop out of a planned trip to Pleasant Valley Farm, washed-up musician Dave (Alexander England), the uncle of Felix (Diesel La Torraca), offers to act as a chaperone in the hope he can woo Miss Caroline in the process. However, he gets more than he bargained for when zombie test subjects from a nearby military facility break free and hunt for their next meal.

I didn’t really know what to expect from Little Monsters but it was an enjoyable if slightly bonkers watch. I particularly liked seeing Nyong’o decapitating zombies and singing Shake It Off while playing the ukulele. I wish the film had more kickass action – I wanted to see Nyong’o kill more zombies – and less time holed up in the gift shop figuring out the next steps. The film loses momentum slightly at this point and picks back up whenever they venture outside. There is some blood and gore but it’s mostly focused on them keeping the kids alive.

Nyong’o gives an amazing performance as per usual – when does she not?! I’m amazed she went for such a project – it’s not something I’d expect to see a Hollywood actress of her calibre in – but I’m glad she did as we get to see her do something completely different. England can’t really compete, even though his character is the main focus – the situation forces him to stop being an irresponsible and selfish manchild and actually step up and be a decent human being. I also want to give a shout-out to La Torraca for being super cute and awesome. His character was the best.

Another surprising addition to the cast was Josh Gad as American children’s entertainer Teddy McGiggle, who is on tour Down Under. He is perfectly cast in this part and it was a shock to see a Disney actor play a total douche and the main human villain of the piece. His newfound nasty side was enjoyable at first but then the film lays it on a bit thick and goes too far. I had enough of him swearing incessantly and downing alcohol and was internally praying for him to be swiftly dispatched.

Little Monsters has fun moments, a great premise and a lead performance from Nyong’o but it just wasn’t exciting enough.

In selected cinemas and on Sky Cinema from Friday 15th November