Disclaimer: This Your Monster review contains heavy plot spoilers.
Caroline Lindy’s Your Monster is a Melissa Barrera star-vehicle. Barrera stars as Laura Franco, a young actress recovering from a cancer diagnosis. During treatment, Laura was dumped by her boyfriend Jacob (Edmund Donovan). Upon returning home, Laura discovers an equally terrifying and charming Monster (Tommy Dewey) living in her closet and under her bed.
At surface glance, viewers can enjoy a spooky romantic comedy and gripping character drama. However, the true identity of Monster can only be discovered through deeper inspection…
Who Is Monster?
Upon watching the entire film, it becomes especially evident on a rewatch that Monster doesn’t exist as an independent character. Monster is actually the personification of Laura’s confidence, self-belief, and rage. A book offers direct insight into a character’s thoughts through the written word. The film medium employs other tactics to convey that information. This storytelling tactic of Monster being part of Laura is a prime example.
Laura Franco is like numerous other women who have been conditioned by the world around them to be overly self-critical and accommodating for others at the expense of themselves. Monster exists only to show us the best of what Laura could be if she were open and honest with her feelings and didn’t doubt her own capabilities.
Blossoming Love
Oftentimes Laura and Monster’s conversations have a mirrored structure. Laura will say something derogatory about her own talents as an actor and Monster will respond that he is a great actor. When Laura questions herself, Monster says the exact opposite with confidence. If Laura declares that she is a mess, Monster immediately responds that she’s not.
Laura and Monster also have a suspiciously large amount of things in common. There are far too many similarities for it be coincidental compatibility. They like the same take-out food, have the same taste in films and songs, and identical talents such as acting and playing piano.
The things Laura and Monster have in common can come across as part of the romantic chemistry on a first watch. However, once you’ve seen the full story, it’s evident that the more that their love blossoms, the more confident and self-assured Laura becomes.
Internal and External Conflict
When Jacob breaks up with Laura in the hospital, she tries to follow him. She is calling out, begging him to come back. It’s a pitiful display that exists to show Laura at one of her lowest points.
Once Laura begins to nurture her relationship with Monster (who is actually herself), her demeanour changes. She snaps at people who are rude to her instead of responding with overly polite accommodation. A high point of this comes when she lashes out at Jacob for being insulting and derogatory to the lead actress of his show. The more he tries to stop Laura, the more dirty laundry she airs.
However, self-improvement is not a linear journey.
Laura suffers a major setback when she breaks down to Jacob, tearfully admitting that she still loves him. He takes advantage of her emotional vulnerability and the pair sleep together in his office. After the encounter, he tells her she is out of the play.
When Laura returns home and admits to Monster what she did, Monster doesn’t react like a jealous boyfriend (because he’s not one). Instead, he emphatically reminds her that Jacob doesn’t love her the way that she deserves to be loved. The ensuing fight is Laura’s inner battle played out externally for the audience.
Monster tells Laura to look at herself and when she snaps back in his face, “I am looking at myself!” it couldn’t be more apparent that Monster and Laura are one and the same.
Grand Finale
Jackie Dennon, the actress whom Laura defended during rehearsal, comes to check on Laura after she is fired from the show. Having learned the truth about Laura and Jacob’s relationship (and the fact that Jackie’s role was one that Laura helped create), Jackie transforms into Laura’s ally.
Jackie proposes that Laura perform the lead role on opening night. This is when the story takes an unexpected turn.
When Jacob comes on stage during intermission to confront Laura behind the curtains, Laura is at her wit’s end. She warns Jacob to watch how he speaks to her. He pays no heed to her warning.
The curtains open to reveal Laura, now covered in blood splatter. As she sings the big song she’s been rehearsing for the majority of the film, we see a vision of what happened through Laura’s perspective. Laura imagines Monster returning after their argument, and reconciling with her by slashing Jacob’s throat.
The camera pans to reveal Jacob, now lying dead on the stage in a pool of his blood while Laura sings her heart out. Laura and Monster have an emotional, heartfelt reunion. This begs the question of the deeper meaning of this seemingly violent ending.
Viewers who choose to experience the story through a more literal lens will see Laura as a woman who succumbed to impulsive rage. After being repeatedly scorned and wronged, she (and/or Monster) has now murdered the man who did her wrong.
This is not how I see the ending.
What Does It Mean?
The entire story of Your Monster is commentating on the ways that women are conditioned to be too hard on themselves. They’re also pressured to be overly polite and accommodating at the expense of their own well-being. The more Laura nurtures her relationship with Monster, the better equipped she is to believe in her talents and stand up for herself.
Not to mention, the very notion of doing something as artistic and surreal as creating a ‘Monster’ character to represent a part of the female protagonist suggests that the ending shouldn’t be interpreted literally.
Thus, I don’t see the ending as a literal murder.
If Monster is merely a part of Laura, the murder is merely an external rendering of Laura ‘killing’ her unresolved feelings for Jacob. Despite everything Jacob did to her, Laura struggled to let him go. The ending is a triumphant climax of Laura’s love story with herself.
Why do some people in the audience react with horror? This is satire of the way much of society reacts to self-assured women.
Final Verdict
Your Monster has a noticeably smaller budget. There is little to no grandiose lighting or camera work. Nonetheless, Melissa Barrera more than carries the film on her shoulders. Whether it’s comedy, drama, horror, or musical, she performs every genre of the story with the utmost precision.
Tommy Dewey’s Monster performance offers a refreshing comedic levity during Laura’s lowest moments. Despite the abundance of prosthetics and hair/fur, he fully conveys the truth of the character.
Although Your Monster is not quite the ‘Rom Com’ that some might be expecting on a first watch, it is no less compelling. The love for romantic fiction is entirely apparent, and Laura’s character arc is well worth the viewing.
Vertical will release Your Monster exclusively in theatres on October 25th!
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