On Your Radar: Maggie
by Karen Pecota

British filmmaker Henry Hobson collaborates with screenwriter John Scott III to make his directorial debut with Maggie, at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. Hobson's dramatic thriller demands an all-star cast. And, that is what he got. A compelling performances were made with Arnold Schwarzenegger (Wade Vogel), Joely Richardson (Caroline Vogel) and Abigail Breslin (Maggie Vogel) of characters that struggled to survive in a cannibalistic zombie-infested world of the dead.

Synopsis:          
The Vogel family live in midwest rural America where mass amounts of people in their community have been attacked by a strange and deadly virus that slowly turns the diseased into cannibalistic zombies. The virus is contracted with just one bite. The encounter is usually swift and barely recognizable. Over time the infected become ravenous, preying on living flesh. The virus spreads too rapidly to get it under control. The attempt for a cure has been futile. There are medical locations for the infected to reside in for a short while and are quarantined there. Sadly, their lives are cut short because they are a danger to those they love. They are euthanized sooner than later.

Wade Vogel's (Arnold Schwarzenegger) teenage daughter, Maggie (Abigail Breslin) is out after curfew and encounters a diseased soul, is bitten on the arm and goes into hiding. Maggie calls her dad, tells him not to find her but sends her love to him. Heartbroken to think of loosing her Wade knows she is protecting the family and it is her smartest option but emotionally painful.

Wade's father-heart can not bare to leave her alone. Despite the warnings, he decides to search for her knowing that she only has a few weeks to remain normal. Wade wants to be with his daughter until he can no longer protect her from herself, himself or the rest of the family.

An agonizing two weeks go by and he finds her in a hospital for the infected. Wade takes Maggie home to be by her side during her transformation. Terrified of the unknown. Every day brings unwanted stress from the paranoia of a virus' so deadly. So contagious.

Wade is not immune to those around him needing assistance but his main concern is to give Maggie the best possible experience of her last days of normal life. Their close father-daughter relationship is the substance that gives them protection and a hope to live around so much death.

Every day Wade shares with Maggie about his garden where he keeps white daisies growing in remembrance of her mother. They talked for hours. He wanted Maggie to imagine what it would be like to live among the beauty of a field of white daisies. It was a place dear to her mother before her untimely death. With shotgun in hand, Wade and Maggie both knew that a journeys end would not be a pretty one. But, Maggie knew it would be the white daisies that would bring a long-awaited peace.