Far more distinctive than your average rom-com, Your Monster easily turns that often predictable genre on its ear. It makes its point with a sting in the tale and a nod and wink to the world in which the story is set. Thespians working the wood know that there is no such thing as over the top in the theatre world and writer/director Caroline Lindy uses that freedom to her full advantage on the big screen.
Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) is an actor/singer/dancer working her trade in the live theatre world. Her boyfriend Jacob Sullivan (Edmund Donovan) is an aspiring playwright. Together they are working on a play that puts women front and centre. When Laura gets cancer, Jacob supports her at first but then chooses the selfish route and abandons her in her time of need.
When she gets to leave the hospital after a surgery, she returns to her now-empty mother’s home. She soon discovers the house is not quite so empty and that there is an actual monster that lives in her closet. On paper, this seems a silly situation but it’s to the strength of Lindy’s writing and the verve brought to the screen by the actors and their words that soon focuses your attention on the human story behind the premise.
The journey to the outrageous ending never feels forced and few will correctly surmise the final outcome. It leaves you both satisfied and not that certain of what will ultimately become of the main participants. Being able to stick that difficult landing so assuredly is rare and very encouraging.
Rob Hudson
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