The survival of humanity in the wake of the apocalypse -- whether due to robots, zombies, natural disaster or something else -- has become such a typical jumping off point for TV shows and movies that pop-culture fans pretty much know the genre's tropes by heart at this point. Same with coming-of-age stories. Love and Monsters mashes these two together, remixing and revitalizing them in fun and surprising ways in the process. So although some of the beats are familiar, the combination of a post-apocalypse like nothing ever committed to film and a hero’s journey-esque tale of an amiable 20-something who’s spent most of his young adulthood pining for his high-school sweetheart makes for one of the most winning films you’ll see this year.
Dylan O’Brien continues to prove his bona fides as an everyman action hero as main character Joel Dawson. When the apocalypse happened he was only 16, and when the movie starts, he’s spent the last seven years living with a group of fellow survivors in an underground bunker hiding from the outside world -- and what a world it is. Love and Monsters images a genuine monsterpocalypse, but those monsters aren’t of the supernatural variety. As Joel explains in the movie’s prologue, in an attempt to neutralize an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, humanity sent a series of missiles into space. That took care of one problem but created another: the chemical fallout that dropped back onto the planet led to all the small, slimy, creepy creatures mutating to multiple times their usual size. Now a single ant is capable of brutally taking out a group of armed humans, completely changing the calculus of who’s on top of the food chain.
Instead of coupling up like everyone else in the bunker, Joel has remained steadfastly single, preferring to write letters to Aimee (Jessica Henwick), his high-school girlfriend, whose colony he recently made contact with via radio. Joel still imagines being with Aimee despite their long separation and makes the questionable decision to leave the safety of his group’s bunker to get to her. Early in his journey, Joel is saved from an enormous, hungry frog by a dog who becomes his traveling companion. Along the way, he meets the duo of Clyde (Michael Rooker) and Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt), a man and young girl who are trying to get to safety up North. They teach him more than a few lessons about handling the creatures that get in his way, as do his numerous mistakes (Joel is a walking, talking illustration of the idea that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger).
The story has something of a mythic quality as Joel's quest to get to Aimee leads to encounters with different people and other entities, where he learns a thing or two and moves on to the next adventure. This makes the movie by turns funny, tragic, scary and thrilling -- sometimes all at the same time. The story is the brainchild of Brian Duffield, who wrote the screenplay with Matthew Robinson, and who also penned the recently released Spontaneous, a similarly offbeat coming-of-age story with a wry sense of humor. Both films have an affable quality that makes them easy to get involved in, despite their fantastical settings. And although Love and Monsters is the more traditional of the two, there’s enough here to make it much more interesting than the average post-apocalypse or coming-of-age movie.
Without O’Brien at its center, however, Love and Monsters might not have worked so well. From Teen Wolf to the Maze Runner movies, O’Brien has a likable screen presence that makes him easy to root for, and that quality is imperative in this film given he’s in almost every scene. Rooker and Greenblatt’s characters make great foils for Joel and both actors do a fantastic job bouncing off O’Brien. Rooker, in particular, expands on his well-known work in The Walking Dead and the Guardians of the Galaxy films, giving Clyde a gruff but avuncular quality. Meanwhile, as Aimee, Henwick manages to demonstrate why Joel idealizes her while also conveying how the apocalyptic years since they last saw each other have weighed on her.
Then there's the movie's unique vision of the post-apocalypse. The production design and visual effects work together to create a fascinating world of mutated but familiar creatures that exhibit behaviors consistent with what we already know about them. These creatures, and the way the absence of humans has enabled nature to reclaim the planet, make the post-apocalypse as beautiful as it is terrifying.
If Love and Monsters was being released in theaters, it would be a real crowd-pleaser. At home, the enjoyment can't be shared the same way but that shouldn’t diminish what the film accomplishes. Accessible but original, amusing but genuine, Love and Monsters is diverting entertainment complete with a hopeful message that may make you feel just a little bit better about the world.
Directed by Michael Matthews and written by Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson, Love and Monsters stars Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt. The movie will be released on digital and premium video on demand on Friday, Oct. 16.