Monsters
Starring: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able
Touted by many as the new District 9, alien invasion film Monsters has a lot to live up to. Amazingly, Gareth Edwards’ debut feature surpasses the hype. A cracking road movie that’s clever, resonant and, despite
a tiny budget, visually stunning, Monsters heralds the arrival of a new talent.
The plot follows Andrew (McNairy), a photojournalist working in Central America trying to get ‘the shot’, who is tasked with bringing his boss’s daughter, Sam (Able), back to the US from ‘the infected zone’ – a strip along the Mexico-US border inhabited by huge aliens.
As the pair negotiate the treacherous environment they start to develop feelings for each other. Showing a deft touch early in his career, Edwards takes familiar sci-fi themes and weaves them together in an original way.
Much of the film’s impact owes to its guerrilla-style – the director filming in Mexico and South America with just one camera to ensure Monsters has a different feel to most blockbusters. Add the fact that Edwards also wrote the script and is the man behind the brilliant special effects and Neill Blomkamp has some serious competition.
4/5
Good for: Fans of smart sci-fi.
– Pierre de Villiers
