Films for Breakfast

Tropes such as enemies to lovers, childhood friends/acquaintances to lovers, or even roommates to lovers isn’t exactly original – and Your Monster has shades of all three of those within its core love story. However, I can genuinely say I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of a love story between someone and the monster that lived under their childhood bed. The film begins with Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) after she’s dumped by her longtime boyfriend Jacob (Edmund Donovan) while she’s recovering from surgery. After retreating back to her childhood home, she finds Monster (Tommy Dewey) and instantly sparks an odd kinship with him that quickly develops into something strangely romantic.

Regardless of how strong or swoon-worthy the screenplay is, any romance film is almost entirely reliant on the chemistry between its leads. If you don’t buy into the central romance and believe the people you’re watching would actually love each other, it can fall apart pretty quickly. When you add the dynamic of the central love interest of Your Monster being a huge and furry monster with sharp nails and a hint of narcissism, it feels so easy for the film to fall apart at any moment. However, due to the chemistry between Melissa Barrera and Tommy Dewey, it sustains itself pretty strongly from start to finish. The two are incredibly endearing together and sell the odd-ball pairing quite well; I found myself really caring about them by the time we hit the halfway point.

Your Monster has a lot on its plate. On top of being a genre-bending romantic film, it also incorporates a musical element pretty early on when Laura discovers that her ex Jacob is moving forward with staging a musical that she helped him develop. It’s within this element of the film that I think the narrative really shines, as it digs into the inherent toxicity between Jacob and Laura’s relationship, as well as showcasing Lindy’s creative touch as a director. The third act in particular has some genuinely impressive musical elements and some impressive costume design.

For a debut feature film, you’d expect most directors to fumble with these many spinning plates, but writer/director Caroline Lindy does a really solid job at keeping it all afloat. Sure, there are some trademark issues that can accompany any directorial debut out of Sundance such as clunky dialogue at times or some plot elements feeling a bit forced, but there’s also a charm to the scrappiness of the film that lends itself to its inherent theme of female rage in the midst of a break-up.

All of these elements don’t necessarily make for an all-time classic by any means, but for a first feature, Lindy has delivered quite an entertaining package that I could see developing a cult following much like this year’s Lisa Frankenstein. It has its moments where it feels a bit lightweight within its emotional hooks and not all of the comedy completely hits, but the chemistry between its leads, ambition of its premise, and confident direction do so much heavy lifting to make Your Monster quite entertaining.

3.5/5