The Best Part of ‘Little Monsters’ Is Lupita Nyong’o Playing Taylor Swift on the Ukulele

After seeing a ton of success with their horror series Into The Dark, Hulu is keeping the scary love going with their latest film, Little Monsters. Not to be confused with the 1989 Fred Savage and Howie Mandel film of the same name, the 2019 Little Monsters is a zombie comedy from Australian writer/director Abe Forsythe that Hulu acquired at Sundance, and is now streaming just in time for Halloween. The zombie genre’s been done to death, and Little Monsters doesn’t have much to add to the pile—except for Lupita Nyong’o. Nyong’o has become something of a scream queen following her stellar performance in Jordan Peele’s Us, though the character she plays in Little Monsters is very different: A ukulele-playing kindergarten teacher with a talent for Taylor Swift covers.

If it weren’t for Nyong’o, Little Monsters would be almost unwatchable. The lead protagonist, Dave (played by actor Alexander England) is not nearly charming enough to pull off the irredeemable-asshole-you-root-for schtick. Dave is introduced to us as the most unlikable person on the planet: He’s just broken up with his girlfriend and is crashing with his sister (Kat Stewart) and her five-year-old son, Felix (Diesel La Torraca). The first thing he does to thank his sister for the hospitality is to complain about her cooking. The second thing he does is kidnap her son in the middle of the night, break into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, and call her a slut when he finds her in bed with another man. (Again, they are broken up at this point! It’s easy to see why!) Yes, unlikable characters are interesting, but this dude is on another level.

Needless to say, I was ready to quit on Little Monsters in an angry huff, but then Lupita Nyong’o showed up on my screen. Nyong’o plays Miss Caroline, Felix’s kindergarten teacher with whom Dave thinks he has a shot (ugh). He does not (or should not), because she is beautiful, lovely, and looks amazing in yellow. Even if she weren’t so clearly out of his league, she’s also engaged. That I’m supposed to believe for a second that Dave would have a chance with her is absurd, but at least Nyong’o has never been more charming. I was in love with her the second she opened her mouth, and then I was then truly done for when she pulled out a ukulele and led her kindergarten class in a rousing rendition of “Shake It Off.” Suddenly, all negative thoughts about Little Monsters flew out the window, because this movie, whatever its faults, has gifted me this moment. And—dare I say it?—Nyong’o might just sound better than Taylor Swift.

When the song is over, Miss Caroline’s class screams at her to sing it again, and I’m right there with them. Can this be the whole movie? Please? I would happily watch two hours of Nyong’o performing Taylor Swift ukulele covers. “Bad Blood,” maybe? “Blank Space?” I’d even take “Look What You Made Me Do!” Unfortunately, Miss Caroline does not play Taylor Swift again, which is a shame, but on the upside gives us a clip of Lupita Nyong’o saying, “I think we’ve all had enough of Taylor Swift right now, guys.” (That’s a line so perfect for gif-ing, I have to assume it was written for that very purpose.)

Thankfully, the instrument makes another appearance after zombies attack while the class is visiting a farm run by an obnoxious TV personality played by Josh Gad. Miss Caroline wants to distract her children from the horrors around them, so she sings a song about Little Bo Peep. I assume that’s a British nursery rhyme because I didn’t recognize it, but I was charmed nonetheless. The next “distract the kids from the flesh-eating zombies” song is a classic, “Old MacDonald,” followed by a gorgeous cover of “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” from Sesame Street. The final songs Nyong’o blesses us with in the film’s climax are “The Wheels on the Bus,” “Old MacDonald,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” and then, in the denouement, one more round of “Shake It Off.” (Dave sings “Sweet Caroline” on the ukulele at some point too, but we don’t care about him.)

And that is all the times Nyong’o plays the ukulele in Little Monsters. I believe they call this “service journalism.” You’re welcome.

Watch Little Monsters on Hulu