Gems

I love it when I find something that surprises me by exceeding expectations.

It doesn’t happen often enough. Most of the time, when watching a television show, going to movies, reading a book, or trying a new restaurant or drink, my expectations have been set up to expect something pretty damn good. Too often, I’m disappointed. That’s why I’m not watching much on television right now.

Last night, while wandering through the TV wasteland’s Amazon region, I came across a movie called “The Girl With All the Gifts.”

“Oh, is this based on the book?” my wife asked.

I didn’t know. If it was, the movie slipped right past my notice. Slipping past my notice isn’t difficult. The cats do it all the time.

It turned out that “The Girl With All the Gifts” was based on the novel. With Glenn Close and Paddy Considine, we had hopes for the movie.

We weren’t disappointed. This isn’t a movie review, but we enjoyed the movie. Dominique Tipper, who we knew from “The Expanse,” was marvelous as Devani, sweetly delivering the courage, innocence, and intelligence demanded of the role. Featuring zombies, the movie had some damn grisly moments, but it was a fascinating twist on the zombie spin. Seeing Paddy reminded me of how much I enjoyed him in “Hot Fuzz,” and Glenn Close played Doctor Caldwell with focused energy. Like most zombie dystopian movies and television shows we encounter, it was fast-paced, and we were second-guessing decisions and tactics. They gave us a lot to second-guess. It was a lot of fun.

I would recommend the movie to you, but I don’t want to get your hopes up. I did enjoy it, though, but that’s just me.