Lupita Nyong’o played terrific characters in Star Wars and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but how can one resist watching her play a cheery kindergarten teacher who protects her students from zombies… the slow kind? Because she will be doing plenty of that in Little Monsters. The film made its festival run earlier this year and was met with mixed reviews, but judging by the looks of it, this is the kind of zombie flick I would enjoy watching.

Check out the red-band trailer here below.

I can understand some of the hesitancy that comes with a zombie comedy. Most of the comedy is a humorous take on the typical zombie tropes. Just like the opening scene in the trailer where one soldier asks his superior officer if the zombies they are encountering are the fast or slow kind. The trailer then switches to Lupita Nyong’o happily playing child games with a kindergartener on their way to Pleasant Valley Farms – kind of on the nose contrast to what is about to happen to these kids. Soon, we see that the zombie infestation has reached the farm. But fear not, Nyong’o is putting on a happy face for the kids. While holding a ukulele, she asks them, “Who remembers how to play tag?” and points to the zombies – or as she puts it, the “funny looking people” – as “it.”

She keeps this sunny disposition in front of the kids to assure that they are safe, despite the numerous times Josh Gad tries to say that they’re all going to die.

Honestly, this looks endearingly sweet, and Lupita Nyong’o looks like she is having the time of her life. There is a hilarious dichotomy of the fun-loving teacher going in to kill zombies in order to protect her students. And I can’t really recall Gad being as frantic and cynical like this. Perhaps it’s just from watching him in Frozen too many times. But watching Nyong’o slap some sense into him was exceptionally funny. Hopefully, we will get to see Nyong’o in more comedies in the near future.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Alexander England and Diesel La Torraca also star.

Written and directed by Abe Forsythe, Little Monsters doesn’t have a U.S. release date as of yet, but it will open in UK and Irish cinemas on November 15, 2019.

Trailer

[Source: Altitude Films YT]