Review of Love and Monsters (2020) by Rachelc — 15 Nov 2020

This movie felt like a victory for everyone who's ever had a loved one who can't seem to conquer the thing holding them back. Whether it's depression, anxiety, or addiction, many of us have had to watch someone we care about ruin or waste their own lives because of a cycle they can't break.

Joel feels unloved and unlovable. He was experiencing one of the happiest and most hopeful moments when his world literally ended. In his mind, his failure to bond with and pair off with anyone in his bunker is evidence of his lack of value. Honestly, he's a bit like an incel in his thinking. He immediately projects any potential future happiness on a few brief conversations with his newly found, but long hunted-for girlfriend, Aimee. Setting off without proper preparations, he needs immediate rescuing by Boy, a dog who is so desperately lonely for company that he follows Joel, dragging his own sad baggage with him. Meeting Clyde and Minnow, two other survivors who bear the scars of their own losses behind masks with varying degrees of fragility. Joel learns some skills for coping with his anxiety which is necessary because he ends up being the one who has to save Boy after he separated from Minnow and Clyde. He saves himself and Boy again but has a falling out with his friend due to his friend's own weakness nearly costing them everything.

When he does meet up with the object of his projected love, he is very surprised that she's got better things to do than validate his newfound skill at just dealing with the stuff she's been dealing with for years. Unlike him, she spent her time moving forward while he remained stuck in the worst moment of his life.

Joel struggles with disbelief and self-doubt as he examines his reason for this quest, but a quick reminder that there's no place like home opens his eye to the idea that he could actually take an active role in making other people's lives better.

Like many people who are unaware of how they're really seen by others, he responds to the world around him by drawing a fictional version of it, and experiences it like he believes he's the protagonist of an epic adventure. Joel eventually lets go of the narrative of a world that revolves around him, and realizes that there are other people who have their own problems in the world, and that he might be able to help them. His discovery comes right before the most meta moment in an already self-aware monster movie. Joel realizes that the plot of every other post-apocalyptic movie has been transplanted into his movie. He seems disgusted by the cliche far more than the actions of the villains, which perfectly suits the tone of the movie, but could have easily fallen flat with a 'Good till the last twenty minutes when they tried to shove in some more action'. I think one of the gifts of this movie was its casting. With the exception of Joel and perhaps Boy, most of the other characters have limited screen time, but they manage to pack a lot into every moment. A lingering look of pain when Joel is given a goodbye hug from a bunker-mate who recently lost someone only to have a much later flashback showing the movie's first casualty, along with other bunker-mates dragging a nearly catatonic Joel to safety when he is paralyzed by fear and disbelief. Minnow and Clyde carry their loneliness and losses with them and their pain behind masks of varying degrees of fragility.

Jessica Henwick is a treat as we see her in flashbacks and the present as a firmly anchored and tough but sweet and kind young woman who becomes a leader on her own due to the fact that she had to.

O'Brien wears the screen naturally and excels in this kind of role where his goofy charm, much like in Weird City, is relatable to many people who are just regular guys in an irregular world.

I'm not really hoping for a full-length sequel, because I think it said what needed to be said. I can see where people refer to this story line as derivative, but I thought it was far more original then the dozen or so revamps of Batman/Spiderman/Superman etc.