The Year of Monster Rom Coms Continues
Where should she turn when Laura Franco struggles with self-worth and is at her lowest? How about the monster who’s been hiding in her closet all along? Your Monster is a romantic horror comedy starring Melissa Barrera, Tommy Dewey, and Edmund Donovan. The story follows Laura recovering from cancer and a break up trying to find her confidence and a role in her ex’s play. She is greeted at her lowest by a monster who has been living in her house all her life and who helps her discover her self-worth. Barrera delivers her best performance yet and Your Monster delivers an emotional ride of a movie.
Barrera has had a roller coaster of a year. After being unceremoniously removed from the Scream franchise, she delivered in the fun action-packed vampire thriller Abigail. Here she gave a more emotionally driven performance that embodied the real-life experiences director Caroline Lindy went through while she was sick. She displays her incredible range, her incredible stage presence, and her voice. She brings strength to a character who is going through hell and by the end, she learns exactly
As I was watching, obviously my mind kept making the comparison to Lisa Frankenstein, the other monster rom-com that came out this year. These two movies have their similarities but ultimately are vastly distinct, making for a very delightful double feature. Your Monster is more emotionally grounded. I interpreted the Monster as Laura’s repressed aggression which only appears when she allows it to surface. As she goes with the flow, living her life with a friend and boyfriend who doesn’t care for her, she doesn’t notice him. But when she’s left all alone, he’s there. He feeds into her angry thoughts but he reminds her that she is better than what she is now. She is worthy of being loved. By the end when she is standing tall above the person who has made her feel so small, he is gone again.
Now, this movie does move itself incredibly fast. The movie opens with a montage to give us all we need to know about how Laura got to this low point and from there we do not slow down. As a result, I believe characters outside of Laura and the Monster are not developed much at all. I also felt as if the story itself wasn’t given enough time to breathe. But what mattered to me was how they created the relationship between Laura and her Monster and that truly was the movie’s strongest aspect outside of Barrera’s acting. What worked so well for me was that the romance between the two was slowly built up, and we got to enjoy their friendship first. It worked for me that their romance never felt forced.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Your Monster is a great movie that tells a personal story with its fantastical elements. Melissa Barrera delivers her best performance yet and brings such an emotional edge to this funny movie. While not perfect, Your Monster delivers everything you could want, and I highly make a night of a Your Monster x Lisa Frankenstein double feature. A movie where Barrera ends up in blood can never not be good.
3.5/5
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