Monsters

I went into this movie expecting something entirely different to what I got, and that doesn't mean I was disappointed.

The trailer led me to believe this was the next big action monster movie with lots of strange creatures and army troops fighting them. Almost as if this was a sequel to Cloverfield.

In reality, this was a thoughtful film, that was more about relationships than anything else. On top of exploring the complicated relationships of and between the two main characters, questions are raised about the relationship between humans and this "creatures". The everyday citizens of Mexico that this pair come across on their journey home are all grieving the loss of someone or something and even go so far as to say that the creatures won't bother you if you don't bother them and it's only when the Americans fly over and bomb them that the attacks happen and people lose their lives.

For a film called "Monsters" there are surprisingly few of them in it. Other than a seemingly constant news feed on every TV we pass playing what appears to be the same footage of a recent attack, we don't have an encounter with one at all for at least 45 minutes to an hour. I think if I had been expecting this lack of "action" then I would have enjoyed it much more as it too me 3/4 of the movie to work out that it wasn't the next Cloverfield, or Alien, I couldn't help feeling a little miffed. That said, the approach to the concept of how people would cope with the idea/presence of these creatures was well executed and By then end I had decided I loved the movie. This is very much the 'monster' movie for those who don't really enjoy mindless shooting at giant aliens. All in all it was a very refreshing addition the the monster movie genre.

Particularly when you think about how low budget this film was (comparatively) only spending around $200,000, shot with a crew of 2 entirely on location. It certainly didn't have that feel to it.

Both of the main actors, Whitney Able and Scoot McNairy, appear the be entirely new to the world of movies (according to their IMDb page at least) and both did a great job. I would be happy to see either of them again.

in summary, I give it 4 out of 5 and recommend it to anyone who likes the sound of an interesting, well thought out monster movie.