Monsters (2010)

Review by Sean Patterson



Monsters is, ostensibly, a monster movie. There are large aliens with waving tentacles that humans fight and are killed by. But the movie turns out to be much more a character piece than a horror movie.
In some ways, Monsters reminds me of The Host. The monsters in both movies are merely the device with which an intriguing story is told about heroism and perseverance in the face of impossible obstacles.
Scrappy photojournalist Andrew is ordered by his boss to get the boss’s daughter, Samantha, home to the U.S. from southern Mexico. An easy task in a normal universe, but in this one, northern Mexico has been declared an “infected zone,” meaning it is infested with alien creatures that are feared and not altogether understood. A huge fuck-up by Andrew leads to Sam missing the last boat out of the port, meaning they have to barter all their valuable possessions for underground passage through the infected zone.
The background of how the aliens (if that is what they are) began to take over the earth is intentionally left vague. We get small hints of what they might want or how they reproduce, but nothing concrete. This leaves the monsters’ motivations a complete mystery, which allows the focus to narrow even further on our two main characters.
The story in Monsters is also vague. There are the obligatory allusions to man being the true evil and the horrors of warfare, but the overall arc is a simple jaunt through enemy territory. The interesting bits are all glimpses of the two main characters.
Andrew is a salty asshole. He tells Sam that her dad will only pay him for pictures of people dying or dead, especially children. He drinks too much and womanizes without caring that Samantha is clearly warming to him. Even though Samantha is engaged, the sparks begin to fly between the two of them. For all this, the actors make these two of the most believable characters I’ve seen on screen for some time. Andrew’s stand-offish defense mechanisms and Sam’s conflicted desires feel real.
The ending of the movie is particularly ambiguous. I couldn’t tell what the final message was supposed to be. Anti-war? Love conquers all? Perhaps that communication could be the solution to all our problems? It isn’t clear, but that’s not a criticism: the conclusion leaves plenty to be thoughtful about.