"The Last of Us" was amazing (probably the best game ever made), and I've only started reading this book, but the two stories remind me of one another. I really hope this movie turns out good (I'm worried about the director though), because the story is really interesting.
shareI loved "The Last of Us" and was emotionally involved in that story from the very beginning. However, "The Girl with All the Gifts" is a much different story. Other than having a similar style zombie plague and an infected girl as a main character, very little is the same. Melanie and Ellie are actually completely different as are their guardians/protectors. The worlds that have been created because of the plague are somewhat alike but not really. And, of course, the endings aren't even remotely similar.
I disagree that they're "much different".
It goes beyond the similar style of zombie plague and infected girl as one of the leads.
Firstly, as you point out, both kids have a guardian of sorts and, in both cases, the relationship between them and their adoptive guardian is a huge part of the emotional backbone of the story.
Secondly, the general aesthetic is almost identical. It feels like the film's Production Designer must be a big fan of the game.
Thirdly, the way the zombies work go beyond the cordyceps-inspired origins. There's also all of the similarities such as how you can sneak past them so long as you don't make too much noise and so forth.
Fourthly, one of the key driving forces behind the story is the notion of using the infected girl to create a cure or vaccine of some kind against the infection. In both instances, this is at the expense of the girl's life. In both instances, the story focuses heavily on the ethics involved and on the idea of self-sacrifice and whether or not you would choose to lay down your life to save others.
It's not necessarily a bad thing that they're so similar, but to deny their similarities just seems silly. They're tonally, aesthetically and structurally so similar that you could honestly have sat me down in the cinema and told me that The Girl with All the Gifts was the film adaptation of The Last of Us and I wouldn't question you.
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Just finished the book. The author def stole ideas from TLOU. No question about it. He can say all he wants, but it's pretty obvious!
shareWait, what? No. The Girl With All the Gifts is an expansion of his short story Iphigenia In Aulis, which was published under his usual name Mike Carey in An Apple for the Creature, a collection of short stories, in 2012.
Mike Carey's Iphigenia in Aulis is another creepy one! Carey keeps it very vague and disturbing. Soldiers forcing children into wheelchairs and restraints for classes and showers. Never being fed. No water. No touching. The focus is on one particular little girl and what she thinks and feels. The minute joys she finds in her life. The loyalty she has and displays at the end. It'll make you wanna cry.
Wait, what? No. The Girl With All the Gifts is an expansion of his short story Iphigenia In Aulis, which was published under his usual name Mike Carey in An Apple for the Creature, a collection of short stories, in 2012.
The Last of Us was released in 2013. The Girl With All the Gifts was completed in 2013 (he released a couple of excerpts as a preview) and published in 2014.
It does indeed share a lot of similarities in terms of both story and visuals (and I said as much in my review of The Girl with All the Gifts -http://crashlanded.co.uk/the-girl-with-all-the-gifts-review.php).
With such a British cast and feel, I'm unsure if this will ever get wide play outside of the UK but I feel it does put a dapener on plans to make a film of The Last of Us.
I'm a Mass Effect person myself, but I really loved The Last of Us and bought a Playstation just to play it.
Brilliantly designed game and it was a moving and beautiful cinematic experience as well. You felt an emotional bond to the characters by the time you got to the end and you really felt like you had experienced something... I don't want to say 'real' but something you definitely spent days dwelling on after it was over.
Definitely one of the best games ever.
And definitely an influence on this film- if only in a stylistic sense.
Lots of similarities, i guess term `plagiarism` would be bit too strong, but anyone who read the book should check out the game and decide for themselves.
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I just came on here to say the same thing. There is some heavy influences from The Last of Us. Without a title it could loosely pass as The Last of Us. The zombies are very similar to the clickers and visually it felt like the game leapt from the game and into the movie. There's also several story elements implemented.
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