Monolith – REVIEW
Image: Lily Sullivan in MONOLITH. Image: film still
Not conventional cinema, this mysterious and utterly enthralling Sci-Fi thriller should astound audiences with its unique story and the brave decision to have only one on-screen actor in the entire film.
A disgraced journalist works from home alone producing an investigative podcast called Beyond Believable. She needs just one good story to redeem herself, a story that will hopefully make people listen. The moment arrives when she receives an anonymous email – who sent it and what do they want her to find? Is it somebody with a grudge messing with her?
She slowly discovers that people are receiving strange artefacts that resemble black bricks. Soon after they see grotesque creatures and have complete personality changes – more aptly they are eerily depersonalized.
These unexplained alleged ‘disease spreading’ objects are being delivered to people worldwide and the pattern of events that follow are inexplicably identical for all the recipients.
As the story progresses the mystery deepens. Is her obsession with this story bringing on paranoia? Is she crazy for thinking this object may be from another world? She is in danger – what if she receives a brick?
A warning – Prepare yourselves as all is revealed in the spinechilling conclusion to this dark and very powerful Australian feature film, which stars Lily Sullivan as the journalist who pursued the story of the century – with dire consequences.
From the opening credits a ghastly fascination has been implanted in the minds of audiences. It successfully captures and maintains interest which catapults right until the final scene.
Telling the story with only one on-screen actor is also ambitious and daring. Would moviegoers watch the entire movie or would restlessness set in? It’s something that surely would have been discussed in the script development stage. This aspect actually adds fuel to the urgency of the story and the building intensity which should be experienced by all audiences.
A small cast of actors lend their voices to support characters which are not seen on-screen, notably Erik Thomson who voices the journalist’s father during several phone calls.
Something awful is coming in the form of a peculiar phenomenon. Audiences should be unsettled yet puzzled and entertained by this small, thought-provoking Australian movie.
★★★1/2
In Cinemas October 26
