A cancer diagnosis, followed by massive surgery and months of recovery. For struggling actress Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera), it is shaping up to be a miserable and traumatic year. However, this is only the beginning as her playwright partner of the last five years Jacob (Edmund Donovan) dumps her right when she needs him the most.
Despite having worked together developing his new play and his promise to cast her as the lead, Laura now finds herself abandoned. Rejected and alone with only her flighty friend, Mazie (Kayla Foster) occasionally keeping her company, Laura returns to her childhood home to cry, recuperate and cry some more. That is, until she is reunited with a blast from her past living in the darkness of her closet and occasionally under her bed! ‘Monster’ (Tommy Dewey) is a beast in demeanour and appearance, and he has been happy to have the house to himself these last few years. He gives Laura an ultimatum, sort her shit out and leave in 2 weeks or he’ll tear her to shreds!
But despite the initial discomfort of living with an ogreish roommate, Monster gets used to it. As the two bond, he encourages Laura to stand up for herself, to strike out, and to win back the role they believe she deserves. Growing closer still, the relationship becomes something even more grotesque. Laura begins to strike out against the world, her selfish ex and anyone who gets in her way, with all the viciousness of a childhood monster propelling her forward the entire time.
A debut feature, Your Monster comes written and directed by Caroline Lindy based on her short film of the same name. The film itself purporting to be “kind of” a true story is also based on Lindy‘s own lived experiences. At least, that of the emotional roller-coaster of a cancer diagnosis followed by a break-up and needing to learn to embrace her own inner monster to cope.
Your Monster presents a mashup of genres, being a fairly light-hearted romantic comedy which turns to a twisted and violent musical. The subject of cancer is a fairly dark one to start out with, but Lindy handles it and Laura‘s heartbreak is in an over the top comedic fashion. Coupled with the whole ‘monster in the closet love interest’ aspect, the film is no more serious than the similar Drop Dead Fred (1991).
It is only as our odd couple’s romance and revenge plot ramps up, does Your Monster shift gears and genres into that of a horror musical. The film’s two leads are cast well with Barrera having proven herself before in both genres. The Scream franchise for one and 2021’s In The Heights for the other. She elevates the musical numbers, even if you probably won’t remember them much afterwards.
While Dewey was a standout in the recently released comedy Saturday Night, here under the special effects make-up of two time Oscar winner (Rick Baker protégé) David LeRoy Anderson, Dewey‘s performance gives bombastic life but also warmth and charm to the titular creature.
However, their characters can feel a little uneven due to the film’s pacing. Monster transitions from his beastly self into a Shakespearean reciting dreamboat, telling Laura how amazing she is after only a single montage, while the comedic edge to the film’s opening make Laura‘s non-stop waterworks more annoying than endearing. Her journey of empowerment also feels a little shallow, being that at no point is her sense of worth not tied to whatever man is (or is not) in her life at the time.
Lindy‘s personal investment and connection to the material is clear, even if her film depiction of cancer treatment seems ill-informed. There is a fine line in storytelling between an artist’s own experiences inspiring and influencing them to create, and flat out self-inserting. Your Monster falls squarely in the latter category with Lindy‘s script.
There is a palpable angst behind much of the film’s second half which is interesting, but the mashup of genres never quite sticks the landing. We don’t need to agree with Laura but she’s not particularly likeable either. No more than her absolute cad of an ex and it is hard to revel in the anarchy she raises as a result.
While feeling a little too much like Caroline Lindy venting her own frustrations, Your Monster still has its enjoyable moments. It’s a throwback to the carefree high concept romantic comedies of the 1990s. One which explores the torrent of emotions we feel when our own lives get turned upside down and shattered. Maybe a little narcissism is the only way to put all those pieces back together and to love yourself again.
Your Monster is in cinemas November 28.