Love and Monsters is the escapist adrenaline rush with heaps of heart that fans of apocalyptic cinema have been waiting for and with it out now on all home video formats, there is no excuse for missing this fun and wildly original ride.
With Dylan O’Brien leading the charge, the film is shockingly one of the most surprisingly enjoyable of the year.
Audiences report wanting originality out of Hollywood, more than anything. It is safe to say that is the case, now more than ever, now that the planet is in the midst of a pandemic that has turned out world upside down. Now, I can almost hear some of you saying, “Do we really need an apocalypse movie when we might be looking at that very thing?” That is a fair question. But what is truly a major credit to filmmaker Michael Matthews is we need this post-apocalyptic movie at this moment in time. Love and Monsters have heaps of heart, a fair amount of hilarity, and an inescapable tone that is pitch-perfect and will have many who witness its glory ready to hit “restart” and experience its majesty all over again.
The script by Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson tells the tale of a world where a massive asteroid is rapidly approaching Earth. The world’s leaders cull their collective missile arsenal and send them into space to destroy that planet killer. Success! Except for one thing, no one (typical) thought of the fallout. No, not the little asteroids that are what’s left. The chemical trails from all the nasty “stuff” that was put into all those missiles fall back down to the ground and create a new enemy, one that will wipe out 95-percent of the population. Those chemicals, well they turned the tiniest menaces (ants, roaches, snails, crabs) into enormous monsters that have sent the world underground and in hiding in the seven years since that fateful day.
Check out a deleted scene!
Our story focuses on Joel Dawson (O’Brien), who was 17 when the world turned upside down. He and Aimee (Jessica Henwick) were madly in love and became separated when their families frantically piled into their separate cars and headed out of their Freemont, California—which we learn later was effectively Ground Zero. For the last seven years, Joel has been in an underground bunker with a group of survivors who have become family. After an exhaustive search—via short-wave radio, Joel has finally found Amy and she is merely 80 miles away. Now, “merely” in a landscape where menacing monsters are around every corner and you’re on foot… you get the picture. Love makes you do crazy things. This young man, who was never allowed to join a “hunt” for food with his fellow survivors because he literary freezes when faced with even the most passive of monsters, is willing to risk everything to reunite with the love of his life.
Although they support him because they love him, his fellow survivors clearly believe he is on a suicide mission heading out to find Aimee. Once out into the world, he meets three souls whose presence has an immeasurable influence on Joel. First, a dog he names Boy. Second, he miraculously (no spoilers here… so don’t expect details!) encounters Clyde (Michael Rooker, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) and eight-year-old Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt). They live above ground and although not biologically father and daughter, the pair certainly give off that vibe. Their priceless knowledge about survival and life 2.0 will reverberate through the entirety of the film in the freshest and most intelligently clever ways. The duo is heading to the mountains because they believe there are fewer monsters up there and it’s safer. When Joel and their paths reach a literal crossroads, they urge him to join them and although he is tempted, he knows his fate lies with Aimee.
O’Brien has company throughout Love and Monsters. But there are stretches where Joel is alone—except with his dog. This is not a Cast Away type film where he is solo and carries the entire narrative. It’s different in this film. It can be argued that Love and Monsters and Cast Away share a similar zip code, in that the central character is alone with his thoughts and drives the narrative. Not saying that O’Brien is Hanks-ian, but I believe he too shares a zip code. There is an innate charm to the young actor that cannot be taught or learned. He has a gift in that all eyes are drawn to him whether he is walking with his dog or in a bunker with 20 people. The Teen Wolf breakout star also has a sense of humor that can lighten the weight when a film’s subject matter can be heavy and at times overbearing. Hanks is all of those things and might I say for those looking for the “next Tom Hanks,” look no further.
Joel has a character arc that an actor lives for embodying. He’s not alone. Duffield and Robinson have crafted a bevy of beautiful souls that are fully defined, three-dimensional people that we are immensely glued to and fully vested in their outcome. Also, nothing is a given in this landscape. Just when you think you have something figured out, the screenwriting dynamic duo shock and surprise. While at the same time, the ebbs and flows are always coming from a place of truth that is riveting and refreshing.
Rooker is one of those souls that Duffield and Robinson created who simultaneously lives in a lane where the actor is quite comfortable—the rogue warrior—yet he also is unlike any other character that the veteran thespian has portrayed. He excels in the role and although his screen time is relatively minimal, his presence permeates every frame after he, Minnow, and Joel part ways. Henwick, meanwhile, had a tough challenge inherent in the nature of the story. She is one thing to Joel, this late-teen woman who is in the throes of young love in a world that is about to crumble. When he reconnects with her, via radio, the actress must portray someone who has fought to survive for seven years, much of which was when she wasn’t aware if Joel was even alive. How both O’Brien and Henwick portray this dynamic, and how the screenwriters wrote it, is uniquely uplifting.
Monster movies, post-apocalyptic films, whatever label one wants to put on this wonderful joyride, often can be a vehicle for making some larger point about our current society as it stands. Love and Monsters never veer into that lane. If theaters were open globally, it could be said that this film is firmly a popcorn movie. This is an entertainment entity where one sits in the dark, enjoys some tasty treats, and is taken away by the scary world portrayed on screen—from a safe distance. Regardless of where you enjoy Love and Monsters, it is such an escapist delight and exactly what we could all use an enormous dose of currently.
There are three main elements of the bonus features for the Love and Monsters Blu-Ray. First, I’d dive into It’s a Monster’s World: Creating a Post-Apocalyptic Landscape. The just over seven-minute featurette focuses on locations across Australia that would serve as the “world” which Joel and his survivors inhabit. The extra also looks at how the shooting locales also fed into the production design and cinematography. It’s a fascinating look at the practical element of the film that contributes so mightily to its overall impact.
The second element is almost 12 minutes of deleted scenes and the third is a featurette entitled Bottom of the Food Chain: The Cast of Love and Monsters. The actors and actresses who inhabit this ensemble are given their due, through the characters they play and how they are woven into this tapestry of terror, humor, and heart. Also, got to love the moniker of this featurette. Nothing says apocalyptic movie like “bottom of the food chain” when referring to our cast!
Film Grade: A
Bonus Features: B