Little Monsters (2019)

Little Monsters is a 2019 zombie comedy film written and directed by Abe Forsythe, starring Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England,  Kat Stewart, Diesel La Torraca and Josh Gad. The story centres on a washed-up musician and a kindergarten teacher teaming up to protect a group of young schoolchildren during a sudden outbreak of zombies.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January 2019 and was released in the United States on 8 October 2019, by NEON, in a limited release followed by digital streaming on 11 October 2019, by Hulu. It was released in Australia on 31 October 2019 and in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2019, by Altitude. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising Nyong'o's performance.

Plot
Dave is a foul-mouthed, washed-up musician who goes through a rough break up with his girlfriend and is forced to stay with his sister and her son, Felix.

While dropping Felix off at school, Dave meets Miss Caroline, Felix’s kindergarten teacher, and is attracted to her. After a parent drops out from an upcoming field trip to a farm, Dave volunteers to chaperone, mostly to be near Miss Caroline.

On the day of the field trip, Dave is upset to learn that children’s television personality, Teddy McGiggle is filming his show there and that Miss Caroline is engaged to someone else. Meanwhile, zombies break out of a U.S. testing facility and head straight for the farm. During a tractor ride, the class is attacked by zombies and tries to escape only to find the whole farm overrun with zombies.

They try to escape back to the bus, but find it too is overrun with zombies. They try to seek shelter in the gift shop only to find Teddy McGiggle locked in and refusing to let them in. Dave breaks in from the roof, beats up Teddy, and lets Miss Caroline and the kids in. Felix then has an allergic reaction after Dave accidentally feeds him chips with dairy in them. After a botched attempt to give Felix epinephrine, Miss Caroline rushes to get some from Felix’s backpack, which was left in the tractor with the others. She makes it back as Teddy tries to signal a military helicopter. He falls off the roof and is rescued by Dave, to whom Teddy reveals that his real name is Nathan and that he’s an alcoholic sex addict who loves Milfs and hates children.

That night, while Teddy and the children are asleep, Dave and Miss Caroline talk to each other. Dave tells her about how his father left him when he was young and that only his sister was there for him. Miss Caroline reveals that she is not engaged as her fiancé had cheated on her. She wears the ring only to keep single fathers away.

The next day, the military plans to bomb the gift shop and destroy the zombies to prevent an outbreak. The survivors decide to get a large vehicle and drive to safety. Teddy and Dave attempt to get Teddy’s McGiggle mobile, but Teddy betrays him before he is eaten by a zombie in the car. Felix later saves Dave by driving the tractor (he has a fascination with tractors), and they rescue Miss Caroline and the kids. As they drive to safety, they discover that the zombies respond to the music Miss Caroline plays. They eventually reach the military and escape just as the military bombs the farm and kills all the zombies.

Dave and Miss Caroline share a kiss as they and the kids are taken away by men in radiation suits. The survivors are placed in quarantine for 48 hours in case of infection. The final scene shows Dave, Miss Caroline, and the kids singing Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” which Dave previously hated as the kids parents watch on with tears of joy in their eyes.

Trivia

 * Originally, the producers couldn't get the rights to use Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" in the film, as they were denied by the record label. Lupita Nyong'o is a big fan of the song and saw it as pivotal part of the screenplay, which led her to personally get in touch with Swift to explain why the song was important to her and the narrative, after which Swift granted her the rights.
 * After six months of the producers struggling to get the rights for "Shake it Off", an email from Nyong'o to Swift made it happen. Nyong'o then learned to play the song on the ukulele in a few short weeks. When she plays the song in a pivotal scene it proved to be a magical moment for the director.
 * Film is dedicated to Abe Forsythe's son; Spike, who's first day of kindy inspired parts of the story.
 * Abe Forsythes son Spike appears as "school kid zombie".
 * Little Monsters is Abe Forsythe's third film as director.
 * Felix Williamson (Novak), Talayna Moana Nikora (Kimby) and director Abe Forsythe previously worked together on Ned (2003), a satire about the life and legacy of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly.