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Little Monsters is a 2019 zombie comedy film written and directed by Abe Forsythe. It stars Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England, Josh Gad, and Kat Stewart, and was released on Hulu on October 8, 2019, after having premiered at the Sundance Film Festival January 27 earlier that year.
Synopsis[]
Set in Australia, the film follows a kindergarten teacher, a washed up musician, and a children's entertainer who find themselves in the middle of a zombie outbreak.
Plot[]
Dave Anderson is a failed heavy metal guitarist who has a huge fight with his girlfriend Sara. After kicking himself out of his apartment from her, Dave moves in with his older sister Tess and nephew Felix, who is obsessed with tractors. Dave's uncouth behavior drives Tess insane, while the highly allergic Felix aloofly follows his uncle around. Dave reveals that the reason for him and Sara fighting was due to her wanting to have kids and him feeling that he isn't ready for them.
In a poorly planned attempt to win Sara back, Dave invites Felix, dressing him up as Darth Vader, and tries to propose to her at his old apartment, only to find her in the middle of coitus with another man named Rory. Sara angrily berates Dave as she considers his attempt to propose as selfish and that he truly doesn't love her. Dave sulks back with Felix as Tess is upset over his actions. She tries to kick him out, but Dave promises to help out around the house this time so that he can earn his keep.
Dave goes to drop Felix off at his kindergarten. He learns that despite Felix having a girlfriend named Beth, he is picked on by the other kids (including one who is handicapped) for his numerous allergies and insistence on eating vegetables. Dave meets Felix's teacher, the kind and beautiful Miss Audrey Caroline. Dave immediately tries to make a good impression on her, mainly for lecherous reasons, and even secretly rams a door in bully kid Max's face for Felix. Dave begins to fantasize about Audrey, with Tess mocking him as Audrey has had a history of numerous men attempting to court her. Dave later learns that an adult had to call out for an upcoming field trip and Dave gladly agrees to fill in.
On the bus to Pleasant Valley Park, Audrey coerces Dave to sing for the kids (after having claimed that he is in a band), his loud music ends up putting off Audrey and the kids, though. As the class heads on their way to Pleasant Valley, a local U.S. sanctioned research lab accidentally has "another" breakout of zombie subjects. The zombies quickly increase in number as they slowly make their way out of the research center, turning numerous soldiers and employees into them. Meanwhile, the class arrives in Pleasant Valley where, to Dave's chagrin, sees that children's entertainer Teddy McGiggle is there. Everyone has fun, though Dave becomes less enthralled when he sees that Audrey has an engagement ring from her fiancée Ian.
While taking a tractor tour in the fields, the tour guide is forced to stop to check on something, while Audrey admonishes Dave for his cynical behavior. The tour guide is suddenly attacked by a zombie, forcing Dave and Audrey to flee and drive the tractor (with Felix's help) back to civilization. They discover the entire park is now crowded with zombies and the buses are flooded with them. They run to the kiosk, only to find that Teddy McGiggle has selfishly blocked the door. Dave manages to climb the roof and breaks into the kiosk center where he knocks out Teddy and gets everyone else inside.
Audrey tries to convince the children that they are playing a special game of tag and that there are no zombies, but simply other players. She further coerces a foul mouthed and short tempered Teddy to also be in on the joke, further threatening to harm him should he try something. Dave treats the children to snacks, but accidentally gives Felix chips with dairy in them, causing him to have an allergic reaction. Audrey is forced to exit the kiosk center and run back to the tractor to grab a back up epinephrine shot, successfully doing so.
Teddy attempts to climb up to the roof after hearing a helicopter (delusionally thinking that it's for him), but ends up falling off the roof, continuing to curse Audrey and the kids while doing so. Dave rescues him and he admits that his real name is Nathan Schneider, that he studied acting under Al Pacino, and that his job as a children's entertainer has been so that he can have sex with the various desperate moms he encounters, admitting to also being a sex addict.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is planning to drop a bomb on top of the valley, unaware of the survivors. Tess is frightened and scared as she has been trying to call Dave this whole time, but he is unable to get a signal. As the kids are tucked in for the night, Dave and Felix teach Beth Tess's song "Little Monsters" to her, the song that she had taught Dave when he was little.
Later, Dave and Audrey bond. Audrey reveals that when she was young, she used up all her tuition money to follow her favorite band Hanson to Australia. She snuck into their hotel room and was forced to flee, falling out the window and breaking her arm. She ultimately got a job as an assistant teacher to pay her medical bills and fell in love with teaching. She wears an engagement ring to ward off suitors as Ian cheated on her and they broke up. Dave admits that his father left him when he was young and that his mother was admitted to a psych ward. Tess was there to look after him this whole time and owes his life to her. He further admits that his band broke up six years ago.
In the morning, Dave and Audrey tell Nathan their plan to escape via the bus. He insults them and reveals that the better escape vehicle would be the "McGigglemobile". The children awaken hungry, but Dave, changed by his experiences, begins to sing a rendition of "Sweet Caroline" to them to calm them. Dave and Nathan climb up onto the roof and run through the zombie hoard. Nathan gets to the McGigglemobile, but betrays Dave with the intent to drive off, only for his puppeteer assistant Frogsie (who has also been zombified) to come up from behind and kill him.
Dave climbs atop the vehicle where he finally manages to call Tess, thanking her for being supportive of him. Felix, overcoming his fears, dons his Darth Vader costume and rescues a baby lamb and Dave with the tractor train. They crash through the kiosk center and rescue everyone else before escaping the valley with the zombies in pursuit. They quickly learn however that the zombies respond to the music Audrey is singing and get them to sing and clap along, much to the children's joy.
The army arrives and reluctantly lets the survivors through (the general says that he isn't killing kids "again") before shooting and killing all the zombies. They finally drop a bomb on the area as Audrey and Dave kiss, before they are all carted off to quarantine. Tess and the rest of the parents are brought in by the army where they are rest assured that their children are safe and that Dave and Audrey are to be thanked for keeping them calm throughout the ordeal.
Dave, Audrey and the kids sit within quarantine where they happily sing "Shake it Off" as the parents happily watch with tears in their eyes.
Cast[]
- Lupita Nyong'o as Miss Audrey Caroline
- Alexander England as David "Dave" Anderson
- Josh Gad as Teddy McGiggle / Nathan Schneider
- Kat Stewart as Tess
- Diesel La Torraca as Felix
- Nadia Townsend as Sara
- Marshall Napier as Army General
- Glenn Hazeldine as Rory
- Ava Caryofyllis as Beth
- Charlie Whitley as Max
- Mason Mansour as Mickey / Felix Double
- Kim Thien Doan as Kim
- Wolfgang Gledhill as Wolfgang
- Caliah Pinones as Caliah
- Jack LaTorre as Jack
- Vivienne Albany as Vivienne
- Shia Hamby as Shia
- Ashton Arokiaswamy as Ashton
- Gareth Davies as Frogsie
- Jason Chong as Lieutenant
- Felix Williamson as Novak
- Rahel Romahn as Griffin
- Stephen Peacocke as Stevens
- Josh Quong Tart as Echidna Man
- Henry Nixon as Security Guard
- Zindzi Okenyo as Security Guard
Songs[]
- "Shake it Off" by Taylor Swift
- "Lady Magdalene" by Neil Diamond
- "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond
- "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" by Jeff Moss
- "MMMBop" by Hanson
- "Daddy Daddy" by Alexander England
- "Let's Giggle!" by Josh Gad
- "Teddy's Lament" by Josh Gad
- "Little Bo Peep"
- "Old McDonald Had A Farm"
- "The Wheels on the Bus"
- "If You're Happy and You Know It"
- "Five Little Ducks"
Trivia[]
- The film features Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off". They were initially denied use of the song, so Lupita Nyong'o personally reached out to Swift to get her to agree to use it.
- Both director Abe Forsythe and his son Spike have cameos in the movie.
- This is the first narrative film exclusively released by Hulu. Before, the only original films were all documentaries.
- With the exception of Felix, Beth, Max, and Micky, the rest of the children are referred to by their real names.
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