“Monsters” Review

Simply brilliant!  If you combine aspects of “Cloverfield”, “28 Days Later” & “Lost in Translation”… you get “Monsters”.  Yes, you read that right.  It is an oddly wonderful combination brought together by a masterful directorial debut, two incredible performances and a minuscule budget that wouldn’t fund the catering bill on most Hollywood productions.

As I was watching this cinematic gem, I grew more and more content, realizing that I wasn’t stuck watching yet another crappy monster flick.  It became gradually apparent that this film had virtually nothing to do with monsters.  Rather, it was a love story along the lines of the one we were privileged to witness in Sofia Coppola’s masterpiece, “Lost in Translation”.  Sure, the setting could not be more different… But the tone and the characters are ultimately similar.  “Monsters” is a relationship movie with scary creatures in the distant background.

A photographer named Andrew (Scoot McNairy) is asked to escort a young woman named Sam (Whitney Able) across an infected zone along the border of Mexico and the United States.  That zone is plagued with giant tentacled creatures who have arrived on earth after one of NASA’s space crafts returns from a mission and breaks up on re-entry.  But forget all of that nonsense… it has little bearing on the real story here.  Of course, there are the pre-requisite scenes of mounting tension and nerve-racking action, but they only serve as support for the central arc of the film.

I was truly riveted by the central couple, Andrew and Sam.  Like so many film couples before them, their initially strained relationship evolves into something more over the course of the movie.  However, this one is beautifully written and magnificently acted by McNairy and Able.  The very last thing I expected to say about “Monsters”, before I sat down to watch it, was that it was an actor’s movie.  I am not kidding when I say that both leads should be considered for Oscar nominations.  McNairy has the charm and wit of a leading man.  Whitney Able is graceful and subtle here, deeply thoughtful and understated throughout.

And I would be remiss without mentioning Gareth Edwards, who wrote and directed this film on a shoestring.  His work is ten times better than the biggest Hollywood blockbusters we get every year.  I can’t believe how restrained and poignant his film is.  “Monsters” is everything a film like this usually isn’t.  It is smart.  It is deep.  It is haunting.  It is patient.  It is real.  It is one of the 10 Best Films of 2010.