
Maggieās two biggest selling points are things I wasnāt sure I ever needed to see again in a movie: a post-apocalyptic setting and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I like the idea of both of them, but after repeated exposure over the years, I confess to feeling fatigued at the notion of sitting through either anymore. But what makes this idiosyncratic zombie movie so surprisingly good is how it tweaks both cinematic staples, letting us see them in a different light. It may be the first Schwarzenegger movie to make you cry.
Under perpetually charcoal-grey skies, Maggie opens as taciturn Midwesterner Wade (Schwarzenegger) tracks down his runaway teen daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin), who has been exposed to a zombie virus laying waste to much of the surrounding area. (One of this filmās strengths is that neither director Henry Hobson nor writer John Scott 3 spend a lot of time explaining the specifics of their zombie apocalypse. Something bad has happenedāthatās all we need to know.) Wade brings Maggie back to their farmhouse to reunite with his new wife Caroline (Joely Richardson) and her two young children, but heās deluded if he thinks he can restore some sense of family tranquility. Maggie is infected, and sheās only going to get worse.
Making his feature debut, Hobson has a background in graphic design, overseeing title and credit sequences on films like Snow White and the Huntsman and The Tree of Life. At first, this seems like an impediment, as he and cinematographer Lukas Ettlin drape the proceedings in fashionable, ready-made doom-and-gloom. (Apparently, in this near future, everything is always smoky, dreary, and overcast.)
But the self-conscious glumness soon takes a backseat to a more urgent concern: What can be done about Maggie? The local authorities are sympathetic to Wadeās plight, but eventually theyāll need to take her to a quarantine center to protect the rest of the population. Maggieās dirt-smeared atmosphere may be too fussy, but the storyās underlying darkness is unshakeable. Consequently, Maggie isnāt really a horror movieāthereās only one legitimate scare sceneāand instead is closer in tone to a disease-of-the-week drama. While it would be cheeky to describe it as the Still Alice of zombie films, thereās actually a strange tonal connection between the otherwise disparate movies. In both, the central sufferer isnāt going to get any better, leaving her loved ones to debate whatās best to do; moreover, not everyone acts heroically, with the focus split between the victim and those closest to her. Like is unlikely predecessor, Maggie thrusts its characters into an impossible situationāone with no good optionsāand then observes from a sympathetic distance as everyone struggles to cope with their circumstance.
Blessedly, Hobson doesnāt turn his directorial debut into some tortured, obvious metaphor for social ills. Maggieās worsening condition scares people in the tight-knit community, but outsidersā panic and revulsion isnāt meant to be a commentary on, say, the demonization of AIDS sufferers. Whatās poignantly apparent throughout is that everyone, even the loving Wade, knows that Maggie is a lost cause, and so the movie isnāt judgmental about the neighborsā fears. After all, theyāre right: If the devastated human race is going to rebuild after this zombie plague, they must quarantine those infected. Nobody hates Maggieāin fact, in an affecting scene about midway through, we see how many friends she still hasābut, sooner or later, sheās going to have to go.
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The one person who canāt accept that, of course, is Wade. Maggie can be viewed as Schwarzeneggerās Cop Land or Joe: a low-budget character drama in which a past-his-prime action star turns down the pyrotechnics to do a little Serious Acting. And while it would be a stretch to say that he shines in the roleāthe character is too insular and low-key to allow for much revelatory hosannasāhe does a fine job hinting at Wadeās deep emotional wounds without getting all blubbery about it. Even at his most emotive, Schwarzenegger is hopelessly granite-like, but he gives Wade an almost Eastwood-ian melancholy, his pained face concealing regrets he canāt quite express.
Maggie subtly explores those regrets. In due time, we learn that Maggie and Wade havenāt had the best of relationships, but theyāve learned to hang together since the death of Wadeās first wife, Maggieās mom. Without succumbing to mawkishness, Hobson and Scott 3 use the encroaching zombie-ism as a way for the pair to come to terms with the loss theyāve already experienced. Itās why Wade canāt accept that his daughter is doomed: Sheās the only link back to his dead wife, making Maggieās certain death doubly painful for him.
As Wade, Schwarzenegger is all understatement and casual charm, which is more than a small achievement. Throughout his career, heās made a living seeming superhuman, his impossible physique either intimidating or comically overblown. But here, heās just an ordinary guy, and he makes that believableāalmost touching. (Despite his size, Wade is powerless to do anything for his little girl.) Thanksfully, heās also surrounded by strong performances. Breslin, who received an Oscar nomination almost 10 years ago for Little Miss Sunshine, is growing into a capable adult actress, too, adept at conveying Maggieās teenage rebelliousness, but also her panic at whatās happening to her. In some ways, itās impossible to believe Maggieās the product of the gargantuan, lumbering Wadeāit seems more likely that his offspring would be bouldersābut Schwarzeneggerās rigid features work to his advantage, suggesting the uncomfortable tension between plenty of fathers and daughters. (Plus, Richardson, in a small but important supporting role, serves as the voice of reason in a situation where nobody wants to hear reasonāeven when everyone should.)
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Because Maggie is ultimately modest in its aspirationsāand because it never quite lands on one easy-to-grasp genreāI suspect itās going to slip through the cracks, Schwarzeneggerās involvement ultimately proving to ensure that this film remains an odd curiosity and nothing more. But in its own thoughtful, peculiar way, this is an endlessly intriguing and sad little film. I doubt it will inspire Schwarzenegger to give up making Terminator movies. But itāll stand as proof that he didnāt always have to do those to hold our attention onscreen.
Grade: B+
Grierson & Leitch is a regular column about the movies. Follow us on Twitter, @griersonleitch.
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