MAGGIE (2015)

Genre: Drama/Horror
Running Length: 1:35
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson

Director: Henry Hobson
Screenplay: John Scott 3

I do enjoy the occasional heartbreaking movie, where everything about the narrative is hopeless and bleak. If done right, such films will cause viewers to squirm in their chairs as it digs deep down into our emotional core and forces us to confront our demons. Unfortunately MAGGIE is not one of them. I did shift around in the cinema chair but it's because it's such an extremely slow and boring movie. This movie has such a huge potential because it's a character driven zombie piece (viewers expecting Arnie to mow down some zombies will be snoring sorely disappointed) which deals with the trauma of being bitten and the impact it will have on their loved ones. It’s the waiting period that differentiates Maggie from the other zombie stories as it usually takes eight weeks from being "infected" to the "turn" (into zombies). However, first-time director Henry Hobson is not an actors' director as he didn't seem to be able to draw the best out his actors but instead focused on the stylistic aspect of the film. If the filmmakers were going for the art-house character study approach, they could have at least chosen better actors as such films rely heavily on the performance of its main cast. Schwarzenegger was always more of an icon than an actor. His approach to handling emotional scenes are like reading off cue cards; one scene at a time and doing it as big as possible with no continuity whatsoever. I didn't feel anything at all for Schwarzenegger as he agonizes and tries to avoid thinking about the day he has to put his infected daughter down. To be fair, you know he's given his best but honestly, he shouldn't be making a drama at all, ever.

Rating: 4/10