Film Review: YOUR MONSTER (2024): Melissa Barrera is Lovable in a Wild Modern Day BEAUTY AND THE BEAST with a Twist
Your Monster Review
Your Monster (2024) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Caroline Lindy and starring Melissa Barrera, Tommy Dewey, Meghann Fahy, Edmund Donovan, Matthew Lamb, Kayla Foster, Lana Young, Kasey Bella Suarez, Brandon Victor Dixon, Megan Haley, Reese Grande, Taylor Trensch, Brian McCarthy, Ikechukwu Ufomadu, Sequoia Shayvonne, Silken Kelly, Sophie Silnicki and Woody Fu.
Melissa Barrera (Scream) turns in the performance of her career thus far in the hilarious dark comedy from talented filmmaker Caroline Lindy, Your Monster. This film starts off as a sort of combination of Drop Dead Fred and Beauty and the Beast but ends up more like a lighter version of Black Swan by the movie’s wicked conclusion. Barrera will simply charm your socks off and that’s the reason this new film works so well.
Barrera plays Laura Franco, an actress trying to beat cancer who has just been in the hospital. Her boyfriend, theater director Jacob Sullivan (Edmund Donovan), breaks up with her, leaving her feeling isolated in her life. So, Laura turns to a “monster” that resides in her closest (played with genuine stye by Tommy Dewey) for companionship.
Your Monster works best in the scenes where Jacob is creating his latest play which Laura was originally supposed to be the star of. Jacob doesn’t invite her to audition, but Laura kind of manipulates the guy in charge of the casting call for the show (played by Taylor Trensch) to let her officially audition for the part. She doesn’t get it but there’s always her monster in the closet to turn to for friendship and consoling in her times of need.
The scenes between Laura and her monster are, at times, corny but because Laura seems to find some sort of connection with the monster, these sequences become rather touching. On the other end of the spectrum, a hilarious part here has the two engaging in sex together with Laura embracing her own “beastly” side. Laura discovers that the monster has stolen her socks and confronts him about it in another cute and funny moment as well.
The fact that Barrera embraces a side of her we’ve never seen before in Your Monster makes the film a particular stand-out. She has charm to spare and then some which she displays through the kindness she shows to other characters. Although she is mostly treated unjustly in return, she keeps on going and does what she can to find some sort of happiness. When she is tempted to confront Jacob, she makes some bad choices that drive the remainder of the movie.
Tommy Dewey is excellent as the monster. Dewey and Barrera have enough chemistry to keep viewers entertained throughout. One remarkably unique scene has the pair dancing at a party together as Laura dons a Bride of Frankenstein outfit and a beehive sort of hairstyle. I really enjoyed Barrera’s heartwarming personality in the movie which one can just foresee taking a turn for the worse by the time the shocking ending rolls around.
There’s a talented supporting cast on board as well. Kayla Foster plays Mazie, Laura’s friend, who is seemingly always there for her when she has to be. Mazie claims to be Laura’s “ride or die” but there’s something less than honorable about the way she is there for her supposed best friend. Also on board is Meghann Fahy as Jackie Dennon, Laura’s replacement in the musical that Donovan’s character is directing. Donovan, himself, is appropriately nasty and the audience will want to see him get his just desserts by the time the closing credits roll.
In the end, Your Monster is hugely successful because of the live-theater scenes it presents such as rehearsals, performances and auditions. This film has an excellent grasp of life in the theater and the pressures that mount there. Those in front of the scenes and behind the scenes do their best to stay true to the vision they are there to present through their work and this movie gets that. Of course, there are some characters’ motivations which drive the twists and turns in the plot that feel a bit overly dramatic but that’s probably part of the point and is certainly part of the fun that drives the film’s very twisted, but undeniably terrific, surprising ending scene.
Melissa Barrera can probably parallel her character’s angst in this film to the frustration she experienced getting booted off the Scream franchise films. If Barrera continues to make more movies like the humorous and smart Your Monster, those who took her off the Scream films will be kicking themselves for letting go of one of the most talented young actresses working today. I loved this movie throughout and the more it went on, the more I loved it. Its unexpected ending will definitely be a crowd-pleaser, too.
Rating: 8.5/10
Leave your thoughts on this Your Monster review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Feedly, Twitter, Faceboo
Related Articles
