Monster
Newmarket Films | Release Date: December 24, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
35
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This is one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
This is harsh and acid stuff, but it's exhilarating on a number of counts. For one thing, Jenkins moves with real authority between scenes of low life, tender intimacy and gripping violence; made on the cheap, her film has the iron certainty of the best art. Read full review
90
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Monster is a compassionate picture without any obvious agenda. And it's effective precisely because it's not a polemic. Read full review
90
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
This is a powerhouse of a film, but not for the obvious reasons that it's about a female serial killer, scampering lesbians and whatever. The project's strength instead emerges from a sense of nobility and purpose in honoring its characters. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Theron has rendered herself 100 percent unrecognizable. Not since Robert De Niro morphed into hulk dimensions to play heavyweight boxer Jake La Motta in "Raging Bull" has there been a transformation this powerful and effective. Read full review
90
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
It is Theron who transmutes and sustains this journey through the lower depths. Read full review
90
The New YorkerDavid Denby
If the notoriously squeamish and slumberous members of the Academy can pull themselves together and face Monster, they should know whom to vote for as the best actress of the year. [26 January 2004, p. 84]
90
Film ThreatMark Sells
A film that you can appreciate, but it’s also one that may be difficult to watch. Because it is so course, because it is so authentic, and because the characters are so real, you feel a closeness to Lee that may be uncomfortable. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Doesn’t provide any answers, and that’s both its strength and weakness. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A compelling, thought-provoking, and unsettling drama. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Challenges audiences with an unrelieved portrait of self-destruction and horrific violence. American movies don't get much grimmer than this. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Theron breaks through with a ferocious performance--a real career-changer. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
In her feature-film debut, writer-director Patty Jenkins combines the gritty, claustrophobic neo-realism of "Dahmer" with the unlikely gutter romanticism of "Boys Don't Cry," creating a haunting portrait of how a person can feel so desperate and hopeless that murdering for a few crumpled bills and maybe a beat-up car can begin to seem like a reasonable option. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
An okay movie made nearly great by one great thing: the bravura, mercilessly watchable performance of Charlize Theron. Read full review
80
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
Jenkins' film ranks as one of the past year's very best. Like "In Cold Blood," "The Onion Field" and "Dead Man Walking" before it, her picture provides a mesmerizing portrait of the human side of evil. Read full review
80
EmpireAnna Smith
There’s enough dark humour to entertain. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
In Monster Theron undergoes one of the most startling transformations in the history of movies. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Any which way you describe this uncompromising movie, it will never sound palatable. Still, it features one of the most spectacular physical transformations by an actress hungry for a meaty role. I haven't used the term "tour de force" in all of 2003, but now it is time. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Jenkins doesn't stint on the sickening reality of Wuornos' abhorrent behavior -- it's Theron's complex, deeply felt depiction of a thoroughly messed-up soul that forces us to look beyond the monstrous nature of her acts. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Theron is nearly unrecognizable in the role. She's also astonishingly good. Obscuring the movie star has liberated the actress. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
If you can endure watching it, you won't forget this grim cautionary tale for a long time. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
I don't think it's a great movie -- though Theron's is a near-great performance -- but it's not one you can easily forget. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Monster brings the horror stories of everyday life down to a recognizable level -- even as the actress inhabiting that story remains startlingly unrecognizable. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's the kind of stunt that gets Oscar nominations and accolades. Theron turns it into a raw, bristling performance that deserves them. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A gruesome, helpless spiral barely saved by an actress locating humanity where few would have cared to bother. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Theron's transformation in Monster goes far beyond mere appearance. As Wuornos, the actress gets to display a blunt, graceless physicality that is rarely needed in women's roles, which are traditionally internal. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
As angry, deluded, vulnerable and confused as Aileen is, the character remains an enigma. Apart from serving as an opportunity for Theron's emotionally deep-dredging performance, the movie doesn't know why it exists. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Writer-director Patty Jenkins makes an impressive debut, showing savvy that often eludes old pros. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
There's Theron, like a force of nature, compelling us to go beyond TV-movie supposition and look Wuornos straight in the eye. Her raw and riveting performance makes Monster an experience you won't forget. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
Gritty and compelling as Monster is, the script's not entirely satisfying elaboration of the central relationship and Ricci's somewhat ungiving performance limit the material to that of a superior telemovie rather than something emotionally richer, like "Boys Don't Cry." Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
This gifted actress (Charlize Theron), who hasn't always chosen her roles well, treats this as her big chance to show what she can do, and she's convincing enough that you're not constantly looking for a Hollywood star of more than average pulchritude under all the cosmetic baggage. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The movie's biggest disappointment is the vague, unfocused performance of Ms. Ricci, an actress known for taking risky, unsympathetic roles. Here she seems somewhat intimidated by her character. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A seasoned director might have known when to ask Ms. Theron to do less, or nothing at all; as things stand, she acts at every single moment. But what brave and ferocious acting she does.
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Honest curiosity and observation are what make this work, and in this respect Christina Ricci (as Wuornos's lover, Selby Wall) is almost as good as Theron. Read full review
63
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Proves more irksome than moving. Read full review
60
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Theron's empathetic victim-wrath and elemental female outrage almost trump the otherwise cartoonish gender-bending and award-grubbing po' folk put-on. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Ricci's less flashy characterization of the immature Selby is equally skilled and meshes seamlessly with Theron's uncompromising performance. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
Apart from Theron and Christina Ricci as her lover, there's nothing in Monster that rises above the level of doggedly well-meaning, although the film is worth seeing for the acting and as a sort of palate-teaser for Broomfield and Churchill's documentary. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Falls victim to flimsy characters and a love story that strains reality. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Phony choppers and a startling resemblance to Jon Voight aren't enough to transform Theron into Wuornos, and I didn't buy either the performance or the character for a second. Read full review
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