''Monolith'' is a 2022 Australian

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

due for release on 27 October 2022. It stars

Lily Sullivan Lily Sullivan is an Australian actress, known for her role as Coral in the 2012 film '' Mental'' and in the lead role of Miranda in the 2018 TV series '' Picnic At Hanging Rock''. Early life and education Sullivan's father is an importer of me ...

, the only on-screen actor in the film, as a journalist uncovering a mystery. Described as

high-concept High concept is a type of artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise. It can be contrasted with ''low concept'', which is more concerned with character development and other subtleties that are not as easily summa ...

science fiction, the film is written by Lucy Campbell, directed by Matt Vesely, and produced by Bettina Hamilton.

Plot

"A disgraced journalist... turns to

podcasting A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

to salvage her career, before uncovering a strange artefact that she believes is evidence of an

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

conspiracy".

Cast

as The Interviewer *

Erik Thomson Erik Thomson is a Scottish-born New Zealand-Australian actor. He is known for playing Hades in the television series ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', ''Xena Warrior Princess'' and '' Young Hercules'', Dr. Mitch Stevens in '' All Saints'' a ...

as Dad (voice) *

Kate Box Kate Box is an Australian stage, film and television actress. She is known for her roles as Nicole Vargas in ''Rake'' and as Lou Kelly in '' Wentworth''. Career In 2003, Box graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) Her firs ...

as Laura (voice) *

Terence Crawford Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO welterweight title since 2018. Previously he held the WBO and ''Ring'' maga ...

as Klaus (voice) *

Damon Herriman Damon Herriman is an Australian actor. He is known for his film and television work in Australia and the United States. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Dewey Crowe in '' Justified''. In 2019, he portrayed the cult leader and crimina ...

(voice) * Ling Cooper Tang as Floramae (voice) * Ansuya Nathan as Paula (voice) * Matt Crook as Scott (voice) * Rashidi Edward as John (voice) * Brigid Zengeni as Shiloh (voice) * Belle Kalendra-Harding

Production

''Monolith'' is the first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

to be produced as part of a joint initiative called "Film Lab: New Voices", by

South Australian Film Corporation South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...

(SAFC) and the

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October ...

(AFF). A development lab ran for 11 months, in which three teams (chosen for development out of an initial 63 contenders) developed their scripts, and one was chosen for production at this time. ''Monolith'' received an initial in funding from SAFC and AFF, and with

Mercury CX Mercury CX, formerly Media Resource Centre (MRC), is a not-for-profit film and television training organisation based in the Lion Arts Centre on the corner of Morphett Street and North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, which aims to give scr ...

also helping to fund the film. The whole film was funded on less than . Lucy Campbell wrote the script; it is directed by

Matt Vesely Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

(development manager at

Closer Productions Closer Productions is a film and television production company founded by filmmakers Sophie Hyde and Bryan Mason in Adelaide, South Australia, in January 2004. It is known for award-winning feature films such as '' 52 Tuesdays'' (2013) and ''A ...

) and produced by Bettina Hamilton. The

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

is Michael Tessari and Tania Nehme edited the film. Filming took place in the Adelaide Hills from late May 2022. It is described as a high-concept science fiction thriller. It is all shot on one location, and there is just one on-screen actor (

); various actors' voices speak to her on the telephone. These include

, and

Release and reception

''Monolith'' had its Australian premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival on 27 October 2022. In January 2023 it was announced that the film would have its official world premiere at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

in March 2023. It has also secured North American and international sales, with distribution to be handled by

XYZ Films XYZ Films is an American film production and sales company founded in 2008 by Aram Tertzakian, Nate Bolotin and Nick Spicer, and is based in Los Angeles. It focuses on international genre films, including '' The Raid: Redemption'', '' The Raid 2'' ...

for North America and

Blue Finch Films Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ob ...

in the UK. Todd Brown, head of international acquisitions at XYZ, said, about director Matt Veseley, "We haven’t been more excited about a filmmaker since we first came across

Aaron Moorhead Aaron Scott Moorhead (born March 3, 1987) is an American film director, producer, cinematographer, editor, and actor. He is best known for his work with creative partner Justin Benson. Life and career Moorhead grew up in Tarpon Springs and at ...

and Justin Benson with their debut feature ''

Resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

'' (released 2013). Bonsai Films had already signed on to distribute ''Monolith'' in Australian and New Zealand cinemas. After its screening at the Adelaide Film Festival, Rachael Mead of ''

InDaily ''InDaily'', initially the online subscriber daily news service is of weekly newspaper, ''The Independent Weekly'', replaced the printed version entirely in November 2010. It shares its website with ''CityMag'', a weekly digital magazine whic ...

'' wrote: "Sullivan is superb as the ethically dubious journalist, effortlessly holding the focus of the entire film", and "Vesely’s feature is far more than a clever manipulation of constraint to heighten tension... Beneath the thrilling claustrophobia lies a cunning puncturing of privilege and a clear-eyed critique of the way we construct, manipulate and ultimately consume 'truth' in a globalised world".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monolith 2022 films 2022 independent films 2022 science fiction films Australian science fiction thriller films Australian independent films Films set in South Australia Films shot in Adelaide 2020s English-language films Australian mystery thriller films One-character films