“The Girl With All the Gifts” (2016) is a thoughtful, story-focused variation of the zombie horror genre, its basis on an acclaimed science fiction novel should be no surprise to anyone who sees it.  It boasts a terrific action set piece, a great performance by Glenn Close, and some nice episodes of tension throughout.

I might be a bit slow, but I must confess that I had a little bit of a hard time following which characters are the monsters, which are sometimes-monsters, and which characters are sometimes-monsters and also feral, as well as the some of the logic connected with how they can detect humans.  The pacing was also a bit off … the first 20 minutes were quite slow, and I started to think that the entire story would take place within several interior locations.  There is a major battle that should please horror fans, but it occurs quite early on.  Somehow, the pacing for the entire film simply felt … off.  Finally, this movie suffers somewhat from a slightly irritating musical score that sometimes felt like cheesy 1980’s synth-pop.

This is still quite a serviceable entry into the genre, though.  I’d give it an 8 out of 10, and I’d recommend it.