No assembly RequireD

Your movie being almost an entire metaphor is not necessarily the makings of lazy work, especially if done right and in a way that feels fresh and often personal. However it is walking a tightrope since you are taking the risk of causing your audience to see what you are going for immediately but then realize very little else is going to be dished out. YOUR MONSTER is the feature debut for Caroline Lindy and while there may be a better film out there the first time filmmaking feels all too apparent. A film focused on female rage and self love is always an exciting premise especially when coming from a new female voice, but YOUR MONSTER is more of a showcase for its tremendous lead and less of a whole film riddled with misguided results. That lead in question is Melissa Barrera who has become the topic of great discussion lately due to the mistreatment she has endured from Spyglass media and the Scream franchise. Barrera who led the previous two installments gets to show greater range here and will have any audience member watching her shake their head in disbelief that any filmmaker would let her go. Barrera plays Laura who has been batting cancer for years and is now being released home but not before her boyfriend Jacob (Edmund Donovan) breaks up with her. Oh and Laura is the inspiration to Jacob’s new Broadway musical, but he refuses to even up auditions to her using her illness and not his bitterness towards her as an excuse. So yes Laura has a lot to be angry over but instead spends her time crying over every movement. Barrera who has had to play it stern for a previous roles gets to let loose with some good old cry sessions that feel less heartbreaking and more Angelica Pickles. Her pain is completely understood, but its clear Laura needs to get angry as well. But since she can’t it she thankfully has an unwanted guest that gets angry enough for the both of them. Laura has a monster living in her closet. A mixture of man and beast that feels like he fell out of the pages of Beauty and the Beast and with just some facial prosthetics humorously adds to the ongoing idea that most women found the Beast a lot hotter than when he turned back to the prince. Laura’s beast is played by Tommy Dewey who also starred in the same role for the short film on which that is based upon. Simply called Beast, Dewey tries to balance charm and frightening and unfortunately when going up against Barrera his skillset as a producer and not an actor begin to show.

YOUR MONSTER appears to have a Barrera problem throughout its film in that she is so great that everything else around her can’t compete and sticks out like a sore thumb. The script calls for some corny moments involving Laura and the Beast slowly developing feelings, but its clear that its not the Beast she’s falling in love with, but instead herself. That is a great feat and Barrera sells it, but you cant’ help but wonder if there was ever any discussion of having Barrera don the beast makeup, its not that we can’t tell the beast is a stand in for her, but when you have scenes involving a kitchen food fight (cue eye roll) or Laura crying how can anyone love her (cue eye roll) its hard to see past this being a woman begging for a man’s love. The rest of the cast doesn’t bode well either, Meghann Fahy (fresh off her White Lotus fame) is riddled with a stereotypical Hollywood starlet role that even when she gets to shed some of that mask it feels too late and way too underwritten.

The film does open up with based on a true story (then changed to “truish’) so you have to assume Lindy is a musical theater lover herself and may be a performer as well (Lindy was not present for the film’s premiere so must questions were left unanswered). It is in these musical moments that the film finds its best footing. The idea of a man making a musical about women standing up to the patriarchy in a boarding school setting sounds laughable until you remember how often this fake male allyship turns up in every Broadway production. This is also where that metaphor for rage and Beast feel better used. Watching Barrera in the background (she get a role but not the lead based off her) doing ensemble work is painful as you watch a women’s voice be taken away right in front of you over and over as auditions go on and on. That is why once Barrera gets to actually sing and perform whether it be in a dream sequence or in reality you feel Lindy and the entire filmmakers using their best weapon at hand. Barrera lifts a weak script and even deliver some laugh out loud moments delivering lines that I would think most women have wanted to shout out loud to a former pretentious art boyfriend. But even with all this excitement from its lead the film surrounding her feels incomplete. There are editing moments that clearly needed another look at, and far too many questions go unanswered (one of the biggest being who even is Laura?) Lindy in all her time wanting to create this analogy and beast representation her main character’s development or even basic background feels sidelined. (Having cancer is not all Laura is but in this film it’s practically her only trait).

Even as the film reaches its conclusion that desperately wants to surprise you, its all at the expense of a tighter script. There are many films where the lead standouts far beyond its lesser of a film but those are often saved for Oscar baity biopics. It can be disappointing to see it come from a new voice that clearly has her mind set on some exciting ideas but on the next one run through it a few more times before letting the beast out.

C-

YOUR MONSTER PREMIERED IN THE MIDNIGHT SECTION AT THE 2024 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. IT IS CURRENTLY SEEKING U.S. DISTRIBUTION