Little Monsters a 2019 Zombie-Comedy is a bit of a ‘bait and switch.’ The trailer and promotional material pushes the storyline of Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o) as a kindergarten teacher who must keep her charges safe during a zombie outbreak while simultaneously keeping the small children from understanding the truth of their dire situation by making it all an elaborate game. Those plot elements do make up a substantial portion of the film’s second and thirds acts but Miss Caroline is not the story’s protagonist.

The story’s main character is David, a pot-addicted, obscenity spewing, failed street busking musician, man-child. So, the core plot of Little Monstersis a very tired one, the immature man forced into adulthood. David intersects with Miss Caroline and her class because his nephew Felix is one of her students and after becoming enamored with Miss Caroline David accompanies her and the class on the field trip where the zombie outbreak take place.

A third central character is Teddy McGiggles played by comedian Josh Gad, a popular American children’s television host on tour through Australia where the film is set. in another expedition to trope-ville Teddy is a boozing, foul, kid-hating character with little to differentiate him from similar characters that have come before.

What saved Little Monsters and made the viewing enjoyable was the immense talent of Lupita Nyong’o. This woman as an actor is simply credible in everything she plays and can draw in a viewer while making a character that on the page feels rather worn fresh and complex. Had the movie been centered on her character rather than the fairly typical David the movie would have been greatly enhanced and it is no surprise that the marketing focused on the movie’s greatest asset.

In this movie much of the comedy works though there is a fair amount of ‘cringe’ comedy focused on a character’s lack 0f self-realization that brings public embarrassment, so on that front your mileage may vary. The story’s approach to the nephew Felix is charming and the both the young actor and the character are endearing enough to pull the viewer into serious concern when he is threatened.

Overall this is worth at least one viewing though you must remember that it is not until the second act that the film’s real star and emotional heart arrives.

Little Monsters is currently streaming on Hulu as a Hulu Original.