British filmmaker Gareth Edwards is nominated for two academy awards this year for The Creator, a provocative and timely sci-fi tale about Artificial Intelligence.
In addition to directing a well-received installment of the Star Wars saga (Rogue One, 2016), Edwards made an auspicious debut with Monsters, a bit of speculative fiction that imagines a not-too-distant future where humanity has lost a chunk of Central America to alien life forms brought to Earth from a deep-space NASA probe six years previous.
Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy) is a freelance photojournalist trying to get photos of the mysterious creatures that have “infected” Costa Rica and Guatemala, and thus making travel in the region dicey and expensive.
He is sidetracked from his quest for fame and fortune with an offer from a media mogul to escort the latter’s runaway daughter Sam (Whitney Able) through the Infected Zone and back to the United States.
What follows is a gritty survival film with a credible romantic subplot about two strangers who must learn to trust each other under fire if they’re to make it out of an embattled landscape, as soldiers try to contain a mounting threat from tentacled terrors from beyond the stars.
Though the alien menace appears infrequently, its presence is felt constantly, reinforced by scenes of people in small villages watching news reports of monstrous destruction.
“You leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone,” comments one local.
We’ve seen this movie . Most of the time the danger is posed from warring nations or an impending natural disaster.
Writer-director-editor-FX guy Edwards juxtaposes gigantic octopoids wreaking havoc into the background, but this dark journey of discovery seen through the eyes of two stunned civilians could be about any set of fleeing refugees.
Kaulder and Sam must negotiate with locals for risky transportation options that are rapidly shrinking in the face of alien aggression. Eventually they are forced to go on foot, bearing mute witness to eerie tableaux of fallen creatures and aircraft alike, that are staged for maximum shock and awe.
Before Gareth Edwards takes a turn at the Oscars, Monsters offers an opportunity to see noteworthy work from an emerging artist. I would advise you to do so.
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