Little Monsters (2019 film)

Little Monsters is a 2019 zombie comedy film written and directed by Abe Forsythe, starring Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England, Kat Stewart, Diesel La Torraca and Josh Gad. The story centres on a washed-up musician, a children's television personality, and a kindergarten teacher teaming up to protect a group of young schoolchildren during a sudden zombie outbreak.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019, and was released in the United States on October 8, 2019, by Neon, in a limited release followed by digital streaming on October 11, 2019, by Hulu. It was released in Australia on October 31, 2019, by Universal Pictures and in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2019, by Altitude. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising Nyong'o's performance.
Plot.
Dave is a dirty-talking, washed-up musician who goes through a rough break up with his girlfriend and is forced to stay with his sister, Tess, and her son, Felix, a child with a fascination for tractors, space blasters, something called "shooty game" and Darth Vader.
While dropping Felix off at school, Dave meets Miss Caroline, Felix's kindergarten teacher, and is attracted to her. After a parent drops out from an upcoming field trip to a farm, Dave volunteers to chaperone, mostly to be near Miss Caroline.
On the day of the field trip, Dave is upset to learn that children's television personality, Teddy McGiggle is filming his show there and that Miss Caroline is engaged to someone else. Meanwhile, zombies break out of a U.S. testing facility and head straight for the farm. During a tractor ride, the class is attacked by zombies and tries to escape only to find the whole farm overrun with zombies.
They try to escape back to the bus, but find it too is overrun with zombies. They try to seek shelter in the gift shop only to find Teddy McGiggle locked in and refusing to let them in. Miss Caroline and the children crawl into an opening next to the shop. Dave breaks in from the roof, beats up Teddy, and unlocks the door so Miss Caroline and the children can come in. Felix then has an allergic reaction after Dave accidentally feeds him chips with dairy in them. After a botched attempt to give Felix epinephrine, Miss Caroline rushes to get some from Felix's backpack, which was left in the tractor with the others. She makes it back as Teddy tries to signal a military helicopter. He falls off the roof and is rescued by Dave, to whom Teddy reveals that his real name is Nathan Schneider and that he is an alcoholic sex addict who loves MILFs and hates children.
That night, while Teddy and the children are asleep, Dave and Miss Caroline talk to each other. Dave tells her about how his father left him when he was young and that only his sister was there for him. Miss Caroline reveals that she is not engaged as her fiancé had cheated on her with a coworker. She reveals that she wears the ring only to keep single fathers away.
The next day, the military plans to bomb the gift shop the children are in and destroy the zombies to prevent an outbreak. The survivors decide to get a large vehicle and drive to safety. Teddy and Dave attempt to get Teddy's McGiggle mobile, but Teddy betrays him before he is eaten by a zombified Froggsie in the car. Dave is trapped and is forced to stay on top of the car to stay safe from the zombies surrounding the car. He makes one last call to Tess before his phone is knocked out of his hands. Felix later saves Dave by driving the tractor in a Darth Vader costume and a golf club he claims to be a blaster, which he knows how to drive due to his love of tractors, and they rescue Miss Caroline and the kids. As they drive to safety, they discover that the zombies respond to the music Miss Caroline plays. They eventually reach the military and escape just as the military bombs the farm and kills all the zombies.
Dave and Miss Caroline share a kiss as they and the kids are taken away by men in radiation suits. The survivors are placed in quarantine for 48 hours in case of infection. The final scene shows Dave, Miss Caroline, and the kids singing Taylor Swift’s "Shake It Off," which Dave previously hated, as the kids parents watch on with tears of joy in their eyes.
Production.
In October 2017, it was announced Lupita Nyong'o and Josh Gad had joined the cast of the film, with Abe Forsythe directing from a screenplay he wrote. Keith Calder, Jess Calder, Bruna Papandrea will serve as producers on the film, under their Snoot Entertainment and Made Up Stories banners, respectively. The film was financed and produced by Screen Australia, and shot in Sydney.
Release.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January 2019. Shortly after, Neon and Hulu acquired distribution rights to the film. "Little Monsters" was released in the United States in a limited release on October 8, 2019, followed by digital streaming on Hulu on October 11, 2019. The film had a limited release in Australia on 31 October 2019 by Universal Pictures Australia, followed by a digital release on various platforms three weeks later. It was released in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2019.
Reception.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 127 reviews, with an average score of 6.78/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Led by typically outstanding work from Lupita Nyong'o, "Little Monsters" is a horror/rom-com hybrid that proves the zombie genre still has fresh brains to savor." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 59 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".