Love and Monsters (2020)

Directed by: Michael Matthews | 109 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, Ariana Greenblatt, Ellen Hollman, Tre Hale, Pacharo Mzembe, Senie Priti, Amali Golden, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Tasneem Roc, Thomas Campbell, Joel Pierce, Melanie Zanetti

The world has ended. Almost anyway. A meteor that threatened to crash into Earth is defused just in time, but the consequences are disastrous. The chemical stuff that blasted the meteor into pieces descended to Earth and created monstrously mutated insects. Gigantic beasts with lots of slime, dirt and sharp teeth. 95% of humanity did not survive, the other 5% is hidden in bunkers across the country.

In one of those bunkers, young Joel lives with about a dozen other survivors. While his bunker mates have found each other (in the form of six couples), Joel is alone. His girlfriend from before the disaster is in another bunker, more than 100 kilometers away. Joel has occasional radio contact with her, but for him, that’s not enough. He decides to brave the dangers on his own, on his way to his girlfriend’s bunker.

In the American adventure comedy ‘Love and Monsters’ we join Joel on this dangerous adventure. The title is done justice to it. The monsters he encounters aren’t the nastiest, Joel isn’t the bravest, nor the smartest, so those are always exciting confrontations. Fortunately, Joel also meets a father and his wisecracking daughter, who teach Joel all kinds of lessons for surviving outdoors. The friendly dog ​​Boy also crosses his path. But the most beautiful encounter (and the emotional center of the film) is his introduction to the female robot Mav1s. She is stranded in an abandoned motel, and has only an hour of power left in her battery. This meeting between boy and dying robot is one to remember.

So the monsters and the love from the title are fine. But there is also plenty to laugh about. ‘Love and Monsters’ has humor of the smarter kind, quirky, surprising, occasionally completely silly, but always fun. The story also has some surprises in store, the alternation between action scenes and more subdued parts is optimal and the actors all do a great job. We will never fully understand how the makers managed to bring this fairly unique combination of tension, emotion and humor to a satisfying end. We do understand that this is a wonderful film for anyone with a good sense of humor and a big heart.