''Monstrous'' is a 2022 American

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

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 ...

directed by

Chris Sivertson Chris Sivertson is an American filmmaker. Biography Sivertson's first film was ''All Cheerleaders Die'' (2001), which he also wrote and directed together with Lucky McKee. In 2003 Siverton and Kevin Ford co-directed a documentary titled ''To ...

, written by Carol Chrest, and starring

Christina Ricci Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. Known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge, Ricci predominantly works in independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box office hits. She has receiv ...

. The film premiered at the

Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. 2008 2008's festival took place between 14–24 Feb ...

on March 12, 2022. It was released in the United States on May 13, 2022, by

Screen Media Screen Media Ventures, LLC. is an American-Canadian distribution company founded in 2001. In 2008, Screen Media selected The Creative Coalition as its exclusive nonprofit partner in launching the Spotlight Initiative. The partnership permits the p ...

Plot

In the 1950s, Laura and her seven-year-old son, Cody, drive to a remote home in California to flee from her abusive ex-husband. The family is threatened by the possibility of his return as well as the presence of a monster lurking in a nearby lake. They settle in, she sends her son to school, makes lunch for him and works at a company doing a typing job. Her son seems frightened because some entity from the nearby lake lurks around his room at night. But after a direct encounter with that monster he seems comfortable with it and calls it "pretty lady from the lake". But still he wants to go home, he always seems sad and depressed and argues with his mom to go back. But she always refuses. On his birthday she arranges a party and makes invitations for his classmates. But he says no one will come, even when she insists that he should at least give it a chance. Both of them decorate their house with balloons and Laura cooks delicious meals, but no one shows up. Laura gets drunk and quits her job. Then she goes to school to pick up her son but he is nowhere to be seen. She asks a policeman for help. At the police station, a lady asks Laura to recall the accident that happened to her son last year. Laura says that she was out for groceries, and her husband was looking after their son, but Cody fell into the pool. When she came back he was still there, so she jumped in the pool and tried to save him and paramedics arrived. She insists that they revived her son and he was alright, then asks for water and leaves the police station. When she gets home she finds Cody waiting for her there. He begs her to let him go as he should leave with the "pretty lady of the lake". In reality her son died in the accident, but she was unable to cope with the grief and became delusional. The year is actually 2022, the 1950's world was one created in her own mind. She relents and allows her dead son to go with the "pretty lady in the lake" and achieves a degree of peace at last. Laura then frees herself from her delusion and leaves her house in California to return to her home.

Cast

as Laura * Santino Barnard as Cody *

Colleen Camp Colleen Celeste Camp (born June 7, 1953) is an American character actress and producer. After appearing in several bit parts, she had a lead role in the comedy ''The Swinging Cheerleaders'' (1974), followed by roles in two installments of the '' ...

as Mrs. Langtree *

Lew Temple Lew Temple (born October 2, 1967) is an American actor, known for his roles as Locus Fender in the action film, ''Domino'', Cal, the diner manager in the comedy-drama ''Waitress'', and Axel in the third season of '' The Walking Dead''. Early li ...

as Mr. Alonzo *

Nick Vallelonga Nicholas Anthony Vallelonga (born September 13, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing and producing the film '' Green Book'', for which he received two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Pictur ...

as Legionnaire

Production

Principal photography began in early December 2020. Filming took place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, throughout

Simi Valley Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

and

Altadena Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

. In March 2021, the cast was revealed at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. In March 2022,

acquired the distribution rights.

Release

''Monstrous'' premiered in the FrightFest spotlight of the

on March 12, 2022. It was released in theaters and on demand on May 13, 2022.

Reception

On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Christina Ricci is capable of carrying a lot, but even her talents are tested by this often ''Monstrous''-ly dull horror movie."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 53 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Anna Smith praised the performances, score, and soundtrack, writing: "''Monstrous'' is one of those tricky films that play a little slowly, but invites a second viewing after the pay-off. Nonetheless, it’s a quietly thought-provoking watch that will resonate with those who connect to its themes."

References

External links

* {{Chris Sivertson American horror films American monster movies American supernatural thriller films Films about abuse Films about families Films set in California Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Ventura County, California 2020s English-language films 2020s American films