Love and Monsters (2020) | Film Review

I have said it so many times: I love giant monsters. Maybe it’s the Rubeus Hagrid in me, but they can be so damned cute and enjoyable to look at. Of course, there may be some pants-wetting terror to deal with in the first few moments of meeting them, and you’ll either survive it or absolutely not, but that’s part of the fun, right? Ok, maybe we have differing views, but one thing that IS fun is Paramount’s Love and Monsters.

The Earth is infested with monsters – Oh no! Sad! Boo! Fain distress – and humans are no longer the top of the food chain. How did this happen? Well an asteroid was heading to destroy the world and we managed to band together, somehow, and blow it up before it got here, but the resulting meteor shower brought a virus that mutated life on the planet. So, just about every creepy crawly little thing grew into something enormous and hungry.

Seven years ago, Joel (Dylan O’Brien) was having a nice night out with his girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick) and the world went all sideways. Monsters were attacking, the military wasn’t winning, so the two of them head for home. They are separated for reasons, and Joel promises Aimee that he will find her (Wouldn’t you? She gave him art supplies, that’s a keeper). Now back to the present, Joel is the one lone guy in a bunker with his new apocalypse family. They love Joel, Joel loves them, but Joel feels lonely. Through ingenuity and determination, he finds Aimee on a repaired radio and decides to go see her in the land no longer traversed by people (Again, art supplies, totally worth it). It seems like a silly idea since Joel isn’t really that good at anything but cooking soup and fixing the radio. He is no fighter and he freezes up, but it’s Aimee (wink).

So, Joel heads out, and along the way, he is forced to learn how to cope with the terrors of a world overrun with monsters. He gains an ally in a dog named Boy who teaches him a few great lessons and keeps him company. A couple of travelers teach him more survival skills. All while you are treated to a fun hellscape of laughs and cheers as Joel learns ultimately what love really is (This time it’s not just art supplies).

The story is not anything we haven’t seen before, but it is good. And why wouldn’t it be? Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson have put out some great content. Titles like The Babysitter, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and Jane Got a Gun are known for great dialog and characters with depth. Throw in the backdrop of neigh unkillable eating machines with a little comedy and the story is easy to get lost in.

The cast is great. Dylan O’Brien’s portrayal of Joel is simply fun to watch. At first glance, he doesn’t look like the quirky lonely guy, but that’s kind of what makes him great. None of us think we look like Jesse Eisenberg or Michael Cera – not Chris Evans either – but definitely not like the first two. However, his delivery and his affect are spot-on for the archetype he is playing here. Michael Rooker spends some time with us and gets all Marry Poppins on us, with a little help from Ariana Greenblatt’s Minnow, who is just a joy. Boy the dog deserves his own title card. Finally, Jessica Henwick… well she isn’t given a lot to do, but she isn’t a damsel in distress, and she’s always all kinds of awesome and needs to be in more things.

The world that the creative team has built for Love and Monsters feels very tangible. This isn’t some big-budget movie with whizzbang effects galore. Yet, it is clear that the budget they were working with was used exceedingly well. The monsters had enough quirk to them to be unique in design while resembling their real-world counterparts sufficiently to ground them in the story.

Look, we have all been cooped up for what feels like years. When we go outside it can feel like we are traversing a hellscape of viruses and monsters and untrustworthy people. Isn’t it time for us to have a little fun? Isn’t it time for us to laugh at ourselves a little? Isn’t it time for us to love a little? Love and Monsters answers those questions with a resounding yes, go forth and adventure!

Follow our further discussion on Love and Monsters via this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: