Spooky Season 2024: Your Monster Review

Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Your Monster offers a little bit for everyone. The perfect spooky season counterprogramming, this original horror romcom takes those tried and true tropes and presents them in a fresh way that is not only entertaining but also packs a solid emotional punch. A premise that won’t be for everyone, some are likely to see it the other way. Nevertheless, the feature writing and directorial debut of Caroline Lindy works for the most part off the strength of the chemistry of stars Melissa Barrera and Tommy Dewey. Featuring one of the best pairings of the year so far, this allegory about embracing one’s inner rage is a wild yet compelling watch. Though the film isn’t necessarily scary per se, it uses horror elements as a framing device effectively. Throw in some musical elements, led by Barrera’s beautiful voice, it merely serves as a showcase of her great range and talent. Dewey (also an executive producer on the film), as the titular monster, oozes boatloads of charm and charisma in spite of the impressive monster makeup he is saddled with throughout.

Your Monster follows Laura Franco (Barrera), a soft-spoken actor who found herself unceremoniously dumped by her longtime playwright boyfriend Jacob (Donovan) as she was recovering from cancer surgery. Adding insult to injury, she learned that he is about to stage a musical that he had developed with her, casting famed actress Jackie Dennon (Meghann Fahy) in the role he had written for her. Attempting to forge a path forward, Laura encounters a monster (Dewey) that has played a role in her life all this time, unbeknownst to her. Valuing his solitary life in her closet, he wasn’t keen to having a roommate. On top of having to salvage the rest of her life and her dream and navigate her complicated relationship with Jacob, she had to navigate around the whims of a monster. However, taking an interest in Laura and her life, Monster was not a complete monster. From there, their dysfunctional relationship was fun to watch beyond the obvious contrast between Laura and Monster but what made it so engaging was how that relationship evolved over the course of the film. It is a romcom after all and that fact has an inherent predictability to it. That being said, it had little impact on that journey.

Trying to salvage her life and still be a part of the play she helped develop, Laura muscled her way back in despite the complicated undercurrent that came with it. Auditioning and earning a role in the play, she had a front row seat to the dysfunction that followed. Practicing the songs while recuperating from surgery, Laura was under the impression that she still had her original role in the play. Despite the fact that this was no longer the case, she at least came in the most prepared. However, it proved to not matter as her history with Jacob, which was not a mystery to those working on the production, took over. Ultimately, it was clear that Jackie was not Laura as there was something clearly not right going on. Meanwhile, so focused on getting Laura out of their house, the more time she and Monster spent together, the more interest he took in her life and that side of him was so beautiful to watch. Essentially, they needed each other as each became the other’s support system, whether Monster admitted it or not. A cheerleader for her, encouraging Laura to open her heart and follow her dreams, she and Monster’s relationship grew into something more thus further complicating her unprocessed feelings for Jacob. In the end, Laura just needed some closure with a man who was an objectively terrible person.

The best part of Your Monster is the aforementioned pairing of Barrera and Dewey as Laura and Monster. Their great performances and even better chemistry are what make it work where on paper, it probably would not have otherwise. Showing off her great range, Barrera is a delight to watch as Laura comes into her own as a character, finding her confidence and learning how to better advocate for herself. Initially heartbroken, confused, and lost, she needed a push in the right direction and that evolution worked solely because of how likeable she is, and she can sing. Meanwhile, Dewey is also a delight as he delivers waves of charm and charisma underneath layers of monster makeup. Giving humanity to a character that easily could have not had any, his presence and comedic timing make for a scene-stealing performance that will be hard to forget. If there is one negative about the film, its the lack of development of the relationship between Laura and Monster. Only hinting at a backstory, he basically shows up to push the story forward in a shoehorned way.

At the end of the day, Your Monster is a wonderful romcom that puts a different spin on the subgenre through a terrific script and performances. Melissa Barrera and Tommy Dewey produce some of the best chemistry of the year. A perfect spooky season watch, its appeal should extend even further.

 still courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.