Directed by Chris Sivertson
Written by Carol Chrest
Starring Christina Ricci, Santino Barnard, Don Durrell
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 89 minutes
In Theaters and On Demand May 13, 2022

by Victoria Potenza, Staff Writer

Films like The Babadook truly solidified a trend for horror to more overtly explore themes of trauma and grief in their stories. Since then the “elevated” horror crowd has run with this theme. Some do it very well, like the 2020 film Relic which explores the effects of dementia and other progressive diseases. Films like Monstrous seem to want to evoke the same types of horror and exploration. Unfortunately even with a fantastic central performance from Christina Ricci, this film was lackluster in its attempts to evoke these similar types of horrors. 

Monstrous centers around Laura (Ricci) who has just run away from her abusive husband. She and her son move to an old home in a remote area hoping they can start a new life and hide away from their dark past. Unfortunately, soon after moving in the home, her son Cody begins talking about a monster he sees. Laura believes this is simply related to the stress of the move but as she begins to experience strange happenings in the house, she has to confront the idea that something sinister might be out to destroy the new life she is trying to create. 

Ricci’s central performance is great. It is wonderful to see her back in the spotlight with recent work like Yellowjackets and The Matrix: Resurrections. I do hope that the Ricci-ssance continues. She evokes the image of the classic 1950s housewife throughout the film. Both in her incredible costumes and also with her attempts to maintain an image of perfection. As you begin to see the cracks in the image she so carefully created, it is clear how much she is holding back in an attempt to make things seem like they are okay. Her performance is a reminder that in many ways, women are still forced to wear too many hats while also trying to hide how much it drains on them. You do empathize with everything her character is going through. 

Unfortunately, the overall story of the movie is bland. It is trying to do a Lifetime Channel-style horror film. Which on the surface is something I do find pretty interesting, but I did not love the execution. The fact that it’s produced by Screen Media, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company, might explain my reservations. As the film reveals more of the twists it takes it did have some interesting themes and some smart storytelling, it is just not as interesting as I would have wanted it to be. I do love stories like this that deal with the connections between hauntings in the home and horrors that women face day to day. This felt like it would have been a slam dunk for me, but the reveal is ultimately uninteresting and there are so many films that have told similar stories that this just did not have enough to pull itself out of mediocrity. 

One of the best aspects of Monstrous, besides Ricci’s performance, is the overall look of the film. Its rich saturated palette does evoke the rose tinted glasses we use to look at the past. It is clear this palette is very much tied to Laura’s hopes of creating a beautiful and picturesque life for her son, one free of the darkness they came from. It makes the darkness that creeps into their lives even more stark and noticeable, which is good for the overall visual storytelling. 

It is hard to talk about this film without giving too much away, especially since it does have a bigger twist at the end. Had I been more invested in the overall story I think this could have worked really well. I think I wanted the story to be darker or to care more about the unfortunate plight that these characters are going through. As a Lifetime-drama-meets-horror film, Monstrous is certainly an interesting concept and I would love to see more of this melodrama in other films. However, as an entry in the feminist horror it lacked a more interesting story to truly be effective.