Your Monster review
Melissa Barrera shows off her versatile skillset in Your Monster.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Your Monster
Directed by Caroline Lindy
Written by Caroline Lindy
Starring Melissa Barrera, Tommy Dewey, Edmund Donovan, Kayla Foster, Meghann Fahy, Matthew Lamb and Lana Young
Your Monster Review
All’s well, that ends well. That may be the prominent thought you’ll have after watching Your Monster. A killer ending highlights an up and down movie…though one highlighted by a great Melissa Barrera performance. Your Monster spends a lot of time feeling confused about what it wants to be, every story turn leads to the same feeling. When it gets to the end, however…it finishes with a flourish.
Laura’s (Melissa Barrera) world is falling apart around her. She’s recovering from a cancer diagnosis; her long-term boyfriend dumps her while recovering from surgery…and the lead part in his Broadway musical that she helped develop is now off the table. When things couldn’t get any worse…Laura discovers a monster (Tommy Dewey) hiding in her closet. And it wants her out of the house.
Your Monster is a difficult movie to classify. It’s got a little bit of everything…and it mostly feels the same. There are plenty of dramatic and comedic moments…and both fit the slightly off-beat tone the film establishes early on. Romantic moments, story twists, even musical moments all feel perfectly in place within the world Your Monster creates. The downside of that is the failure of many of those moments to stand out. The movie moves to the beat of its own drum…and it often feels a behind by a beat.
On the other hand, it gives Melissa Barrera a role to showcase her versatility. Whether comedically breaking down in front of the UPS delivery guy or dealing with the trauma of her illness…Barrera is excellent. The nature of the Broadway plot even lets her sing and dance her way through the film’s climax. To say that Your Monster ends on a high note would be an understatement. The final moments of the tory stand as the clear highlight of the movie…and one of the best scenes of the year.
The ending is so good, in fact, that it makes up for a lot of the nagging issues that precede it. Those issues aren’t narrative related…the somewhat detached melancholy feel that pervades most of Your Monster fits the state of Laura’s character perfectly. She doesn’t feel deserving of respect or love…or even the work she has clearly earned. The monster in her closet helps her get in touch with a side of herself that she has repressed for a long time. It’s a strong character piece…that just feels a little off. It’s meant to.
Laura drifts through hardships without anger. We drift with her. We want her to stand up for herself…to tell off her ex, give it back to her rude nurse…to feel worthy of the respect that not one shows her. Which means that Your Monster has us feeling exactly what we are supposed to. It’s a matter of how entertaining that is to watch. We are effectively stuck to the doormat that the world is walking over for much of the story. It makes the moments when Laura finally fires back hit like crack.
Those moments are the point. Things that are funny rarely feel that funny. Romance doesn’t feel that romantic. Because Laura is suppressing her feelings, and we are riding with her. She is stuck in an emotional rut…so we are too. The story sacrifices some easy wins for a grander climactic achievement.
You may have noticed that we’ve barely mentioned the monster at the center of the story. That’s because he is an odd character to discuss. He first appears as a grumpy antagonist for Laura to deal with…but quickly softens as they become close. There is some romance between Laura and the man-beast. It develops out of the monster being the only person in her life that tries to tell her she deserves better. Thomas Dewey is good in the role…but the story only lets him have so much fun. Like most things in Your Monster, he is limited by what Laura’s emotional state allows us to feel about him.
But it all pays off in the end. Barrera crushes Laura’s rise in confidence. She takes back her power and (literally) steals the show…taking center stage and regaining her identity. The moments where Laura cracks through her emotional prison make Your Monster (sometimes literally) sing. The final scene is a perfect capper to what the story has been building. A cathartic release from the trap Laura’s psyche has placed us in with her. Barrera was born to play this final moment. Your Monster might not always get to it in the most exciting way…but it gets there, nonetheless.
Scare Value
Barrera turns in a great performance. She gets to do a bit of everything here. Drama, comedy, dancing, singing…it’s a role that lets her show off her multiple talents. The story often feels like it’s a half step too slow or behind by a beat…but it leads to a spectacular, and worthwhile, conclusion. There’s enough to enjoy along the way. The destination is worth the ride.
3/5
Your Monster Link
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