Monstrous

Monstrous

Laura, traumatized by an abusive relationship, runs away from her former husband with her seven-year-old son Cody. But in their new, idyllic and remote sanctuary, they find they have another, bigger and more terrifying monster to deal with…

  • Released: 2022-05-13
  • Runtime: 89 minutes
  • Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thrillers
  • Stars: Christina Ricci, Santino Barnard, Don Baldaramos, Colleen Camp, Lew Temple, Carol Anne Watts, Peter Hodge, Nick Vallelonga, Sally Elbert, Rachael Edlow, Philip V. Bruenn
  • Director: Chris Sivertson
 Comments
  • kaylahaye - 1 October 2023
    Everything is not what it seems...
    This is not going to be the creature feature you were hoping for but it makes a pretty interesting psychological thriller deep under the watery depths. This will be a spoiler review so read at your own discretion.

    It's the 1950s....despite what we presume to be a mother and son escaping from an abusive home to move out to California, things are perfect. Beautiful home out in the middle of nowheresville near a lake, 1950 model home decor cut pasted from a magazine, tv perfect mother son relationship (who cut the cheese?!) and the model car that my grandparents hoped to have had. This is until the world once again starts to fall apart.

    I'm seeing a lot of comparisons to Sixth Sense but it's more like Wanda Vision. Our perfect world is a coping mechanism of wanting the "normal 1950s life" that our protagonist feels she would fit nicely in to mask the truth of her loss. When her loss begins to creep in and knock on the door, she does all in her power to turn away from facing it and ignoring the issue. Instead of dealing with the pain, our personal ghosts become monsters.

    Maybe I took this movie wrong but I don't believe there was ever a supernatural aspect in the movie (major failure on marketing to attract the wrong crowd looking for the creature of the black lagoon) but rather a mother trying not to come to terms with her past events. She's not holding onto a ghost but a desired want to stay with the only thing she has left that was good. Her subconscious tells her she needs to let it go and that it's okay to listen to what the truth of the matter is but instead she secretly tips the small vodka bottles back, imagines a world where it's like her grandma's era and plays pretend. Our monster is most likely her grandmother who she seems to possibly been a major influence in her life and is trying to help her understand.

    Are their flaws, definitely. Does it deserve a super low score? Nah. I think it's confusing if you take the movie literally and if you were looking for your creature feature haunted house film, you would be disappointed. Acting was pretty well done though our child star was a little flat. He makes a great depressed kid but his "crying moments" made me noticed how dry eyed the actor was which was slightly bothersome.
  • catterwallz - 19 March 2023
    Intriguing
    I like this film as it is a cleverly developed story of grief and trauma. Christina Ricci is wonderful and fragile in her role. The added bonus of a period piece develops the story in a quirky manner. There are a few confusing develops, but they weave their way into explanation the further the plot develops. The monster itself later evolves into a metaphor for dealing with trauma cause by an abusive relationship and the ex-husbands flaws as a father. The story starts out with bright lighting and beautiful colors, but the nighttime scenes are quite the opposite. The contrast provides much suspense.