52
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 84TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceTheWrapRonda Racha PenriceMonstrous offers a strong premise and some fresh twists, particularly in a genre where gimmicky filmmaking has prevailed.
- 70The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneMystery buffs will see a twist coming from afar, and connoisseurs of horror will be underscared, yet the film sits squarely in the Ricci canon. Once again, she leaves us wondering: Is her character the victim of menace and disorientation, or could she herself be the wellspring of strangeness?
- 63RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsRogerEbert.comSimon AbramsChristina Ricci does most, if not all, of the emotional lifting in the lightweight horror drama Monstrous, a period piece about a single mom and her son who, in 1955, run away from home and re-settle in an isolated lakeside house.
- 60Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonWall Street JournalJohn AndersonAn uneven but likable horror film with one of the better plot twists in recent memory.
- 60Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayLos Angeles TimesNoel MurrayFor the most part this is a captivating mood piece, held together by Ricci’s take on a woman who is chasing an impossible idyll while being trailed by something dark and murky.
- 60Screen RantFerdosa AbdiScreen RantFerdosa AbdiRicci’s assured and robust lead performance helps build upon some exciting ideas in the script and is ultimately the reason to watch. She is thoroughly captivating and, while the film never reaches her level of excellence, it is still a relatively fun, wonky ride.
- 40SlashfilmSarah MilnerSlashfilmSarah MilnerThere's a difference between intentionally misleading the audience and cleverly setting up, then subverting, expectations. Ultimately, "Monstrous" does the former, leaning far too heavily on expository dialogue that fundamentally contradicts everything the audience is seeing.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe jeopardy is built-into the situation, but the frights feel low-stakes and simply don’t get the scary job done.
- 30Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAustin ChronicleRichard WhittakerWhat really drags it down is the wafer-thin script by Carol Chrest, which neither Sivertson nor a determined if sometimes overblown Ricci can pull past its messy metaphor and undeserved twists.
- 16The A.V. ClubBrent SimonThe A.V. ClubBrent SimonUnfortunately, it’s hard to imagine a more stillborn finished product, an exercise in tedium which checks the barest boxes of “completed movie” and possibly delivers unknown benefits for some of those executive producers, but otherwise offers nothing that might engage an audience.