Generically titled, The Monster is a 2016 horror drama written and directed by Bryan Bertino. It stars Ella Ballentine as Lizzy and her alcoholic mother Kathy, played by Zoe Kazan. My The Monster (2016) movie review follows
From the first scenes they are introduced together, we get a sense they fight a lot. The little girl is being prepared to be taken to her father who she seems to prefer over her mother that never was a proper mother she wanted. They are constantly bickering and a lot of hatred hangs in the air. The movie doesn’t come off as a creature feature and more of a heavy family drama. However, this all changes when Kathy hits a wof that has strange bite marks all over it.
The movie does a good job with building up to the monster reveal instead of just showing us the monster as soon as the characters enter its turf. Once it is revealed, both Kathy and Lizzy try to be more cooperative with each other and try to think of a rational plan to escape since their car is damaged.
**Minor Spoiler** Since the monster is afraid of light, it works to give filmmakers an advantage where they don’t have to show it too much. They do a fair amount.** This means Kathy and Lizzy have to use the limited resources they have at hand to outsmart the creature that thrives in a dark environment. They also don’t have a lot of room for error so they don’t end up making too many stupid moves, which a lot of monster movies are guilty of doing, especially ones with a lot of disposable characters.
The monster, dark and mysterious, is an uncanny manifestation of Kathy’s uncontrolled alcoholism. Kathy’s ultimate decision to fight it and not give up represents her will to fight it for her daughter. It is a last stand to prove that she is not a completely incompetent mother. However, the question is whether it is too late for redemption? It also helps that Lizzy, while scared and helpless at first, stands up and fights. This shows character development, as well as personal growth from a young child that is forced to grow up fast.
The entire movie is atmospheric and mysterious. The two main characters work well together and have a great banter even when they are mad at each other. Their acting is well grounded,which works well because the entire movie relies on them to carry on the story. The monster serves as way to bond them together and give them a common enemy they can work on defeating. The filmmakers could have gone a road where monster is revealed to be hypothetical beast inside all of us. I am glad they took a different route by making it real because it breaks up the storyline of characters constantly bickering with each other. It gives fans of drama something to look forward to as well as those who like creature features.
Overall the movie works on many levels. It has solid acting and a story that has emotions and pretty good scares for a low budget film. The monster itself is good looking with limited shots of it being clumsy in its movements. It is a very practical monster so the fans of practical effects will have something to look forward to. A mix of drama and horror gives this move a unique look.
Thanks for reading my The Monster (2016) movie review 🙂
