Monstrous

Once one figures out what is going on in this movie, it actually is interesting. Much more of a psychological thriller than an actual horror movie.

For the most part this is a captivating mood piece, held together by Ricci’s take on a woman who is chasing an impossible idyll while being trailed by something dark and murky.

An exercise in tedium which checks the barest boxes of “completed movie”...

Offers a strong premise and some fresh twists, particularly in a genre where gimmicky filmmaking has prevailed.

The dissociative identity disorder of 1950s American culture is exploited to disturbing and amusing effect in Monstrous, an uneven but likable horror film with one of the better plot twists in recent memory.

Ricci’s compelling performance, with essential support from director Chris Sivertson ... makes you want to follow Laura as she inevitably falls apart.

The cracks appear early and often through the delicate production design which is given more time than working on the film’s horrors and its late-arriving ideas on how we deal with them.

Monstrous delivers an interesting period piece with solid performances, but would have benefited from a focus on its themes instead of twists.

Ricci is working seriously here, but Carol Chrest’s script hits predictable notes en route to a Big Twist that simply undoes the logic of all preceding horror content, even in fantasy terms.

Deserves credit for being something more than a gory creature feature, but the execution of its moody narrative isn’t sufficiently assured to make it more than an interesting also-ran.