Maggie: Slow But Interesting

The world has seen no shortage of zombie films, covering countless scenarios meant to torment observers with chilling and monstrous scenes. Maggie is not that sort of film at all. While chilling, director Henry Hobson has delivered a film that focuses far more on the emotional reality of slow decay, of the tragic horror that awaits the victim of the disease rather than the victims of what the afflicted shall become.

Premise: A teenage girl is infected by an outbreak of a zombie-creating disease that takes months to fully incubate. This is the story of her descent into death. Result: A relatively powerful, nuanced film that while not particularly energizing, makes most of the right moves.

In the midst of a scourged Midwest at the center of what appears to be a global pandemic, we have Maggie (Abigail Breslin),a young girl who was somehow or other bitten by one of these creatures afflicted with what is known as the NecroAmbulance Virus. It is a truly saddening ordeal that afflicts her, her father Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger), her step mother Caroline (Joely Richardson), her friends and all those around her.

A young girl bitten. We have seen it all before…but arguably not like this.

While slow and bursting with the color-stingy cinematography of poignant melancholy, this is not a film that revels in surface aesthetics alone. Devoid of anything that will make blood-thirsty zombie fans rejoice, what it lacks in frights it makes up for in uniqueness, as a far greater contributed to a tiring genre than any of its more common brethren.

What makes Maggie unique amidst the spewing hoard of zombie copycats is the incubation period. Unlike the seconds it takes to “turn” in most films, here it is months – a slow, tragic and deeply unsettling spiral into darkness and decay.

Here, as observers, we watch not a plague of ravenous undead chasing and clutching and biting at fleeing humans; instead, we watch a human transform, very painfully slowly into a monster and what this does to both her and her family. This film is not about becoming the creature; this film is about losing the humanity and the fight until the end.

Maggie is not perfect by any means nor should it be considered so. It meanders at times and there certainly could have been more done to energize a somewhat somber, ponderous feel. Yet, its simplicity of plot is heightened by its complexity of emotion and ultimately passes for intriguing if not overly entertaining.

The performances added a necessary power to the film. Breslin is strong throughout forced to dig deep and offer a range of emotion. Richardson, again, adds a poised terror that certainly helps both the eeriness of the film, but also its emotional impact.

The real story, and for surprising reasons, is Schwarzenegger. His preference for larger-than-life roles allowing him to overcome impossible odds in inconceivable ways is long storied. Yet, as Wade, he shuns all that fanfare in favor of an incredibly understated, vulnerable performance.

He looks tired, he looks frightened, and most importantly, helpless. That is not to say that he is not a brave character nor one who does not confront the unthinkable; it is simply to illustrate that in this role, Schwarzenegger chose to be very human, very relatable for one of his deepest and most interesting roles to date.

In the end, Maggie is not tons of fun. But it is important. It forgoes entertainment and gore, typically the KPIs of any zombie film, and tells us a story that is often overlooked in a meaningful way. It is interesting enough to keep attention and it is sufficiently succinct to tell the story without overstaying its welcome.

7- A refreshing Champagne that a cute bartender comp’d you!