MAGGIE Trailer

This discussion presents me with the rare opportunity to talk about zombies and people. Zombie films were originally allegories for consumerism. As with many ideas, the concept of what a zombie is or can represent evolves over time. With current entries, zombies act as a device to see the extremes humans are capable of in terms of benevolence or maliciousness. This is the trailer for Maggie.

Henry Hobson directs this production with Abigail Breslin and Arnold Schwarzenegger starring. The premise is that a disease breaks out and slowly infects a Mid-Western girl named Maggie. Her father protects her from people who seek to imprison her in quarantine. From the trailer, you get scenes presenting Breslin’s transformation from young teen girl into zombie. Her eyes and skin grow paler, acting as a ticking bomb for how little time is left before she is fully lost. Arnold as Wade is stuck in time honoring his wife’s wish to protect Maggie. From what they show so far, the story is very touching on a personal level.

Earlier, I was talking about zombies as devices to see into the human condition. You see many examples of it in shows like The Walking Dead or the videogame The Last of Us. Stories like these delve into the best and worst of humanity. This is one of the few situations where you can’t blame people for being selfish or, at least in practicality, can’t expect them to be kind. People will kill each other for resources or better survival opportunities. On the other hand, this situation creates very romantic opportunities. Romantic in the sense that it is a “mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful.”

One of the most appealing archetypes for me was always the honor bound man. Through misery, they stand their ground despite the lack of reward or even closure. Their honor is bound to a person or ideal rather than some bold claim. Wade, for example, is bound by his oath. If it’s a person or ideal, it’s selfish but understandable and even respectable. Wade doesn’t care about society’s rules, because his will is to protect his daughter. The late Leonard Nimoy may have once taught you “…the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” but that works more in a functioning society. In a world where nothing is safe and most everything is trying to kill you, you just stay close to the things you know. That’s how we have evolved.

Then there’s Maggie with her slow transformation. If you have a daughter or at least can sympathize with growing up next to other human beings, you can relate to her. At her core, she’s a girl who wants to do everything other people do, such as fall in love and live a decent life. There is even a scene where she is on her way to locking lips with a boy. Then this disease comes and just violently rips that possibility away from her. In the place of hope, a tumor builds instead, and it grows bigger every day. There’s nothing she can do or any option she knows of to fight it. She’s helpless, and that’s one of the most terrible feelings in the world. Maggie seems to take it in stride, though.

If you notice, the zombies are just there. They’re an afterthought behind the fact that living people are more likely to screw you over. Psychologically speaking, thinking about zombies is fun if you consider humanity’s obsession with end-of-the-world scenarios. Most major religions have some form of the end of the world such as the apocalypse or some kind of rebirth. If you really reach for it, it’s almost as if people want the end to happen. Y2K was a bust and I think people are still waiting on Nostradamus to deliver on his other prophecies. There could be so many psychological reasons behind this type of thinking, but it’s fascinating to speculate about.

Maggie will have a limited U.S release May 8th 2015 but you can catch it at the Tribeca Film Festival April 22nd 2015. It will also be released in Sweden May 22nd 2015 and France May 27th 2015. There are currently no other release dates.

Tell us what you think about zombies! Grrr-Arggg!

(top image source: Lionsgate Films)