Film Review: Maggie

In Maggie, a mysterious disease is wreaking havoc on humanity, turning people into zombie-like creatures who rot and spread their disease through a bite. The disease can take up to eight weeks to fully overtake the host, and here we see the human drama of a family dealing with a world in crisis while their teenage daughter goes through the disease’s incubation. A family has to deal with their own fears, scared neighbors and a sick daughter, all while trying to hold some semblance of civilization together.

Maggie is an incredibly well written and acted film; the story and characters are given the opportunity to unfold and develop at their own pace rather than burying us with a rush of exposition. The acting of the three lead actors — Schwarzenegger, Breslin and Richardson — is the core of this film and captivates the viewer. While the cinematography stands out it is unfortunate that everything is in the de-saturated color that is the current “go to” look for anything remotely dystopic. Luckily cinematographer Lukas Ettlin gives us some of the most stunning compositions I’ve seen in quite some time. And while the zombie scenes are few and far between, I must admit that the look of these zombies is striking, particularly a little girl zombie, which I believe will become an iconic image. Confidently directed by first time feature filmmaker Henry Hobson, Maggie is certainly a must-see movie.

I highly recommend people check this out, even if you aren’t a big horror fan. Maggie has a lot to offer people who enjoy a good drama about family struggles because that is the heart of this film. Maggie can be found on all VOD platforms, but unfortunately seems to have bypassed most theaters altogether.

Maggie (2015); Dir: Henry Hobson; Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson