‘Your Monster’ Movie Review: Melissa Barrera Does It All In Delightfully Strange Genre-Hopper
Photo from Vertical
From Jeremy Kibler
Beauty and the Beast meets Drop Dead Fred in writer-director Caroline Lindy’s darkly romantic fairy tale Your Monster, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a genre-hopping mélange of comedy, drama, horror, romance, revenge fantasy, and even musical theater, while also being an expansion of her short film and based on a “true-ish story.” What Lindy whips up is such a wild swing, a balancing act that should crumble at any moment but actually soars with excitingly unpredictable gumption.
Melissa Barrera is sympathetic and charming as Laura, a Broadway actress who’s madly in love with her boyfriend of five years, stage writer-director Jacob (Edmund Donovan, making for a punchably handsome bastard). Just as she undergoes cancer treatment and surgery, Jacob breaks up with her at the hospital. Devastated and at her lowest point, Laura goes back to live in her childhood brownstone home, only to be reintroduced to Monster (Tommy Dewey), a hairy beast of a man living in her closet. He’s a needy roommate who likes sesame chicken and can recite Willy Shakespeare, but Monster also wants Laura out in two weeks. Along the way—with a little push from Monster—Laura works up the courage to try out for the lead role of Jacob’s show, considering they workshopped every scene and song together and he wrote the part for her. Will Laura stand up to the real monster?
As heightened (and erratic) as all of this may be, grounded human feelings are at the core of this tale of suppressed anger and self-love, making the rest of it matter. Barrera nails the heartbreak, anxiety and rage of Laura, and when the character finally stands up for herself, it feels like a much-needed exorcism. The role affords Barrera so many levels, giving Laura a full arc from timid to assertive, as well as the chance to sing beautifully, particularly in the show-stopping finale. Then there’s the Monster himself. Though he’s under some monster prosthetics, Tommy Dewey is so likable and puts an endearingly brash spin on a character we should be fearing. Some of Laura and Monster’s banter could have been sharpened on the page, but that their relationship otherwise works at all on screen is a testament to the affable and surprisingly sweet chemistry Dewey and Barrera share.
In supporting roles, Kayla Foster is a bundle of energy as Laura’s flaky, self-involved best friend Mazie, and Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus) is another standout, bringing unexpected empathy to famous actress Jackie Dennon, who could have just been a man-stealing diva.
Bending genres in one film is ambitious for any filmmaker, let alone a first-time writer-director. While backstage dramas and love stories with monsters aren’t entirely fresh on their own, Caroline Lindy just goes for it, confidently throwing a lot at the wall. Lindy isn’t faking it ’til she makes it, though; her heart and the heart of every collaborator involved shines through to make a tonally strange and strangely inspiring original.
A catalog of recognizable doo-wop songs is a quirky choice, giving the film even more disarming personality, along with fun original songs by The Lazours for Jacob’s faux-feminist show “House of Good Women.” Even if the film leaves one questioning the implications of how Laura finally gets empowered, the finale is gloriously angry and wickedly cathartic with a few blood stains. Anyone who begs movies to be less cookie-cutter and take more chances will find Your Monster to be a genre-defying treat.
Rating: 3.5/5
Your Monster hits theaters on October 25, 2024.
