The Monster - Okay

Starring: Zoe Kazan, Ella Ballentine, Aaron Douglas
Director: Bryan Bertino
Runtime: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Drama | Fantasy | Horror | 2016

On one hand, we have the screwed up single mother (played by Zoe Kazan) who almost reminds me of the mother in The Florida Project, but not THAT messed up. And on the other, you have a scaredy cat little girl (who honestly doesn’t seem so little to me) played by Ella Ballentine. The two are driving to the father’s house and blow a tire and hit a wolf. Ugh dead wolf. While waiting for paramedics and tow trucks, the two ladies are confronted with a monster.

Now, this isn’t like when the monster comes in What a Monster Calls, it’s a legit monster that wants to eat them. For the most part, the plot line was well thought out and not boring. I liked how it went back and forth between present and past to paint a picture of the mother-daughter relationship the two have.

The monster itself is terrifying looking. And I liked how in the end, the little girl gained courage, but by that point I was already annoyed by the way she was acting. She was old enough to not act like a baby (which I am sure was probably the point for her character) and I just was over her attitude and selfishness.

I’m going to go with an “Okay” on this one. I was still a little bored while watching, but I it was too bad. If you like monster movies with a lot of drama and dysfunctional family thrown in there then watch it.