Release Date(s):
Oct 25 (USA) and Nov 29 (UK)
TBA for Canada
Potential Spoiler Alert
The question of what Your Monster is supposed to represent depends on how audiences want to interpret this film. Here, Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) wants to shine on New York’s biggest stage. However, her time on the stage will be limited. In what I’m reading suggests she has to learn how to face her insecurities. Or she can learn how to fend for herself. That’s because nobody was there for her when she got her diagnosis. This feeling of being alone sets the course of the film. And as for why Jacob (Edmund Donav), her boyfriend, wasn’t present, I kept tabs on the flashbacks to figure out why.
As for what her monsters hiding in the closet represent, that’s a question which isn’t easily answered until more backstory is revealed.
As for what she takes forward is in how her new furry friend she finds hiding in her closet (enthusiastically played by Tommy Dewey) helps her overcome the obstacles she has now. This creature is rather charming in a Monsters Inc kind of way. Also, he resembles Ron Perlman’s character from the beloved Beauty and the Beast television series. And that’s because some parts of this film resemble what happened in season two’s finale, if I’m remembering the story right.
While hell has no fury like a woman scorned, the antagonist (Donav) is far worse! He’s quite the piece of work once the film unravels who he is, and perhaps the bigger question that needs to be answered concerns who is worse? He’s also quite an uncaring individual, and I’d love to punch him in the face as well.
But as for that play within a play, perhaps there’s something to read in that. Usually, the best productions have something to say about the human condition, and what’s glossed upon as it was being fine tuned suggests there’s a lot of read from. I’d love to see more of this play within a play, but alas that was not meant to be. And I suspect the surprise in this performance’s finale is more than an homage to Sweeny Todd.
Although this film occurs over the Halloween month, the release can work just as well in the Spring months (the film debuted in January at Sundance). That is because what happens is about the renewal of the human spirit. Just how it unfolds is wicked, but it’s the doo-wop soul which makes Your Monster to enjoy at any time of the year.
3½ Stars out of 5
Your Monster Movie Trailer
