Cooties is a 2014 American zombie comedy film directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion from a screenplay that was written by Ian Brennan and Leigh Whannell. It stars Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Rainn Wilson, Jack McBrayer, Whannell, Nasim Pedrad, Brennan, and Jorge Garcia as a group of elementary school employees who fight to survive an outbreak among students that turn them into aggressive zombies when someone eats chicken nuggets that contain a virus.
Cooties premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014, before it was released on September 18, 2015 in a limited release and thru video on demand by Lionsgate Premiere. The film received mixed or average reviews from critics.
Plot
In Fort Chicken, Illinois, a batch of badly made chicken nuggets containing a mutant virus arrives at Fort Chicken Elementary. A student, fourth-grader Shelley Linker, consumes one of the tainted black-dotted chicken nuggets. Meanwhile, an aspiring horror writer named Clint Hadson substitutes at Fort Chicken Elementary, where he is reunited with his former high school crush Lucy McCormick, whom he learned is dating the physical education teacher Wade Johnson.
During Clint's class, a kid named Patriot is attacked by the blister-ridden and increasingly feral Shelley after he inadvertently pulls a pigtail out of her scalp, with Clint being scratched by her before she flees. After Patriot is taken to the nurse's office, Patriot's friend Dink confronts Shelley while she attempts to dig her way out of the school. Dink plans to report Shelly to the principal's office by turning her in, but Shelley ends up infecting Dink, who then spreads it throughout the playground by scratching the majority of the children before they all proceed to kill several staff members including Mr. Peterson, Vice Principal Simms, and Sheriff Dave.
Later, Clint, Lucy, Wade, and the other surviving staff members (consisting of Doug Davis, Tracy Lacey, and Rebekkah Halverson) are forced to flee the faculty lounge when attacked by Patriot. After escaping to the library and being joined by an uninfected student named Calvin, the staff barricades themselves in the music room. Wade notices Clint has been scratched by Shelley and quarantines him; meanwhile, Doug deduces that Clint is only experiencing symptoms of stomach flu as the virus does not affect adults like it does on children. A sole uninfected student full of wisdom, Calvin concludes that "cooties" are the culprit behind the infection, completely moving the entire staff.
The staff plans to head to the roof at the end of the school day to call out to the arriving parents for help, only to watch the first arriving parent be killed by her own child before they are forced back into the school. As Wade is forced to kill Dink when he followed them into the auditorium, the group is joined by a teenager named Tamra, who they found was scratched by one of the infected kids. Doug concludes from his autopsy of Dink that the infected children are mostly brain dead and the virus only affects people that haven't gone through puberty, meaning that Tamra is safe. As Patriot takes out the power, the group sees that Calvin starts passing out from diabetic shock as they escape with the school janitor Hitachi and take refuge with him.
The group sends Clint through the ventilation system to get a chocolate bar for Calvin, along with Wade's truck keys and their cellphones. Lucy joins Clint and they manage to secure a chocolate bar to bring Calvin out of diabetic shock. Clint and Lucy are separated from the group and get trapped in the library, where they confess their feelings for each other and kiss. Shortly after, Wade apologizes to Lucy for his behavior over a walkie-talkie. Clint knocks out several children with pills and he and Lucy reconvene with Wade and the others as they made themselves improvised weapons. The staff fights their way through the hallway and the parking lot, with Hitachi being overwhelmed by the infected children inside the school, while Wade stays behind to ensure the others get away. Patriot, having hidden in Wade's truck bed, attacks Clint and ends up being crushed against a tree with the truck.
