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A24’s The Monster has the unfortunate status of being a forgotten title in the studio’s horror catalog. Released in 2016 and written and directed by Bryan Bertino, the movie stars Zoe Kazan and Ella Ballentine as a dysfunctional, alcoholic mother and her estranged daughter who must fight to survive a terrifying, ravenous creature after their car breaks down on a deserted road during a rainy night. Despite being a well-crafted creature feature that holds an 81% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie had a limited theatrical release and failed to receive much mainstream attention and ultimately went down as a largely overlooked piece of creature feature cinema. The movie has been available on HBO Max, but is scheduled to exit the platform on March 31st, meaning there are fewer than 24 hours left to stream it.
A24’s The Monster Is a Hidden Gem That Deserves More Attention
The Monster is a criminally underrated gem, not just for A24, but the horror genre as a whole. The movie is a strong, albeit overlooked, example of A24’s ability to infuse horror with deep emotional drama. A strong, albeit overlooked, example of A24’s ability to infuse horror with deep emotional drama, the movie works as a character drama first and a horror movie second. The Monster focuses just as much on internal demons as it does on the monster itself, which functions as a metaphor for the mother’s internal trauma. The character-driven, slow-burn drama disguised as a creature feature explores themes of motherhood, childhood neglect, and redemption, and the deeply emotional performances from the cast, particularly that of Kazan, elevate The Monster above a typical creature feature.
