#1130. Monsters (2010)

★★☆☆☆

Now, it's our turn to adapt.

Dear editors of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: really?!? Based on the synopsis, I was expecting something a little more like District 9 or even Cloverfield. 

Six years ago, NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, new life form began to appear and half of Mexico was quarantined as an INFECTED ZONE. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain "the creatures." Our story begins when a US journalist agrees to escort a shaken tourist through the infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border. 

The one redeeming quality that I found in the movie, I later found out was completely unintentional. There’s great subtext about cross-border immigration between Central and North America, but the writer/director just wanted to make a movie about aliens. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention the love story. Of course, the guy and the girl (who’s engaged to be married) fall in love. The ending was a bit abrupt, but I didn’t mind. I was just glad it was over. 

A couple of cool things about this movie: it was shot with a crew of only 2 people using all “off the shelf” equipment (all the way from cameras to visual effects). And the main characters names were Kaulder and Wynden, which sound an awful like Holder and Linden from The Killing. But, that just made me wonder who killed Rosie Larsen. 

Why you should watch Monsters: um, it’s streaming for free on Netflix.

Why you should skip Monsters: watch District 9 or Cloverfield instead.

Credits: 

UK 94 min Color 

Director: Gareth Edwards 

Screenplay: Gareth Edwards 

Photography: Gareth Edwards 

Stars: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able and Mario Zuniga Benavides