In an alternative version of the present-day Midwestern United States, society struggles to function in the aftermath of a zombie pandemic that is still barely under control. Victims contract the disease through the normal zombie vector - being bitten - and once infected, slowly descend into a cannibalistic state.
When Wade Vogel gets a voicemail from his daughter Maggie, saying only that she loves him and that he should not look for her, he knows that can only mean one thing: she has been bitten.
Wade ignores his daughter's message, tracking her down and bringing her home, where government rules allow to stay until her condition reaches the stage where quarantine - and eventually euthanisation - will be her inevitable fate.
Wade refuses to accept these regulations, insisting that he will care for Maggie until the end. Thanks to his respected position in the local community, he has some latitude, but even old friends like the local Sheriff and Doctor can only do so much for so long: sooner or later, Maggie must either be killed, or become a danger to everyone else around her.
A lot of zombie media tends to present 'not killing your infected loved ones' as a foolish, doomed and self-destructive decision. They take it as read that anything other than immediately killing any victim of the plague is the only sane and rational decision. Little if any credence is given to the emotional trauma of being expected to kill your own spouse or child. Maggie feels like the film-makers set out to deliberately explore why 'of course you should immediately kill them' is not the easy answer it is often presented to be.
A lot of zombie media tends to present 'not killing your infected loved ones' as a foolish, doomed and self-destructive decision. They take it as read that anything other than immediately killing any victim of the plague is the only sane and rational decision. Little if any credence is given to the emotional trauma of being expected to kill your own spouse or child. Maggie feels like the film-makers set out to deliberately explore why 'of course you should immediately kill them' is not the easy answer it is often presented to be.
This makes for a very different kind of zombie film, of course, with only occasional moments of zombie menace, and a lot more focus on the interpersonal relationships of the characters. The result is a movie with a measured pace. I never found Maggie to be slow or boring, but it's certainly no high octane thrill right, either: this is a movie of slowly creeping tension and uncertainty, not one for jump scares and shocks.
When the film came out, much attention was given to the casting and performance of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Wade Vogel. This is not a movie that relies on the action heroics for which Schwarzenegger is best known. Instead, it asks him to portray a grieving, loving father who is holding onto that love in the face of imminent horror. It's not a role Schwarzenegger could have handled in his 80s and 90s heyday, but he does a good job of it here. It helps a lot that the film smartly lets him do most of his emoting non-verbally. He's always had good body language as a performer, and he proves here to also be adept at conveying emotion with his eyes. The result is an understated but convincing portrayal of a man who has to make an impossible choice.
The film's camera work is also interesting; I noticed that the camera often focuses on the characters' hands as they perform tasks. I think this is a clever non-verbal way of reminding us that at the end of this story, either Maggie or her father will likely use those hands to commit violence on the person they love best in the world. It's a clever bit of visual story telling.
When the film came out, much attention was given to the casting and performance of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Wade Vogel. This is not a movie that relies on the action heroics for which Schwarzenegger is best known. Instead, it asks him to portray a grieving, loving father who is holding onto that love in the face of imminent horror. It's not a role Schwarzenegger could have handled in his 80s and 90s heyday, but he does a good job of it here. It helps a lot that the film smartly lets him do most of his emoting non-verbally. He's always had good body language as a performer, and he proves here to also be adept at conveying emotion with his eyes. The result is an understated but convincing portrayal of a man who has to make an impossible choice.
The film's camera work is also interesting; I noticed that the camera often focuses on the characters' hands as they perform tasks. I think this is a clever non-verbal way of reminding us that at the end of this story, either Maggie or her father will likely use those hands to commit violence on the person they love best in the world. It's a clever bit of visual story telling.
Maggie is a much more sombre, thoughtful offering than the typical zombie horror fare, but it is a well done. If it at all sounds like your sort of thing, I recommend checking it out.
No comments:
Post a Comment