[Review] Love and Monsters(2020) {7/10}

Directed by Michael Matthews with a screenplay by Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson, the film stars Dylan O' Brien (Joel Dawson), Jessica Henwick (Aimee), Ariana Greenblatt (Minnow), Michael Rooker (Clyde), Dan Ewing (Cap) and Melanie Zanetti (Kala). The film starts off with an explanation of how, seven years ago, a large asteroid heading towards earth was broken to pieces by the government through nuclear weapons. The radiation from those weapons caused the insects to mutate into larger-than-life killer creatures.

Our main character Joel (Dylan O'Brien) tells viewers that he's the odd-man-out loner in a colony full of romantic couples. He was separated from his girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick) seven years ago when the creatures attacked. Human Beings are on the verge of extinction. Joel realizes, thanks to the CB radio, that Aimee is only 85 miles away (about a seven-day trek), Joel decides to head to the surface and make his way toward her with just a hand-drawn map, a crossbow, and a backpack. The people of his colony are not too keen on his idea as he is the weakest in the colony and advice him to stay. But Joel decides to leave for Aimee. Along the way, he meets a dog named Boy and teams up with Clyde (Michael Rooker) and his young companion Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt). Being the survival experts, they teach Joel everything they know about weapons and the creatures. Together they make their way toward Aimee's colony while battling a variety of creatures.

O' Brien's performance makes this comedic post-apocalyptic adventure sweet and entertaining. The underlying themes of community, love and teamwork are important reminders of the values that are needed to overcome not just a "monsterpocalypse" but any catastrophe. O' Brien is quite good potraying Joel, a self-deprecating every guy who is more for making his colony minestrone than for fighting the monsters aboveground. He sketches and journals about the monsters that he encounters and tries to keep his PTSD at bay. For an uplifting humanity, even at the end of the world, this adventure about a guy who survives and thrives against all odds is worth watching.

Love and Monsters is now available on VOD and Streaming.