Monsters
Magnet Releasing | Release Date: October 29, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
7
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
25
New York PostLou LumenickDec 13, 2010
The only thing remotely scary about Monsters is that Magnolia is releasing this boring scare-, suspense- and gore-free horror movie (which reportedly cost less than $100,000) on Halloween weekend. Read full review
50
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreDec 13, 2010
The new creature feature Monsters is an intriguing mash-up of "District 9," "The Host" and assorted recent post-apocalypse road pictures. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 13, 2010
Monsters, like a serpent eating its own tail, comes back on itself in ways that haunt, and hurt. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn LevyDec 13, 2010
Monsters is a tiny sci-fi thriller that makes up what it lacks in big effects with a fine photographic eye, a low-key sense of scale, and a genuine (if not always well-performed) human drama. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 13, 2010
However you slice it, Monsters is a dynamite little film, loaded with atmosphere, intelligence, beauty and courage. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliDec 13, 2010
An arty, ruminative and slow-paced film that's being marketed as a big ol' alien-invasion flick. Just don't expect an invasion flick. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterDec 13, 2010
With Monsters, Edwards transcends the special-effects auteur label, creating a memorable sci-fi story in which the hero and heroine are true equals in the adventure. How's that for an alien concept? Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanDec 13, 2010
No ordinary horror film. If it were, it might be a bit better than it is. As the movie stands, it's a less-than-compelling relationship drama, with aliens. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenDec 13, 2010
The film is a startlingly original and haunting take on our ageless fear of otherness. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 13, 2010
Monsters is a genuine curio: a moody, low-budget road-movie romance that takes place against a background of alien invasion. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyDec 13, 2010
Monsters is enormously satisfying in the way it combines suspense, romance and sci-fi. It heralds a bright new talent in Edwards. If he can do all this for no money, imagine what he can do with a real budget. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesDec 13, 2010
The result is notably dim and flat on a big screen, and the giant-monster scenes, often cloaked in darkness, are few and disappointing. Edwards tries to take the high road with a politically intriguing premise (a la District 9) and a tight focus on the evolving relationship between his two traveling companions, but his shapeless script doesn't do much with either element. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertDec 13, 2010
Monsters holds our attention ever more deeply as we realize it's not a casual exploitation picture. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 13, 2010
Monsters is a sharp little low-fi monster movie operating from a tantalizing premise. Read full review
100
EmpireDan JolinDec 13, 2010
An amazing achievement for a 'first-time' filmmaker, which measures up to the finest indies for performance and character-work, and the biggest blockbusters for jaw-dropping effects. And it has the year's best sex scene, too. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyClark CollisDec 13, 2010
Monsters is really a road-movie romance that tracks the burgeoning relationship between two strangers as they travel through the "infected" zone. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisOct 28, 2010
Monsters effortlessly compels. The ending may be pure sci-fi schmaltz, but it's schmaltz that this viewer, at least, could believe in. Read full review
75
NPRBob MondelloOct 28, 2010
Edwards is a wizard with his laptop's effects program. The squiddy things he conjures up look like the real deal - thoroughly creepy and a gazillion feet tall. Too bad his screenwriting software didn't have an equivalently impressive plot-twisting algorithm to get him to the final fade. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternOct 28, 2010
What brings Monsters down from its extremely low perch is a conspicuous lack of monstrosity. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleOct 28, 2010
An attempt to counter noisy, hyper effects-laden alien invasion flicks with something teasing, indie and good for you. Instead, it's like a pendulum swing too far in the other direction. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayOct 28, 2010
Gareth Edwards' low-budget science-fiction film Monsters is both a testament to what the latest technologies allow filmmakers to do, and-on the downside-a testament to the enduring importance of a good script. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle OrangeOct 27, 2010
Wait a second, is this a horror movie or an episode of The Hills? Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichOct 26, 2010
There's so much right with Gareth Edwards's low-budget alien invasion tale that you almost want to brush aside everything that's not up to snuff. Read full review
60
Village VoiceKarina LongworthOct 26, 2010
Director Gareth Edwards, a CGI artist by trade, has created a dystopian landscape that's so naturalistic, it's uncanny. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 26, 2010
Monsters works not because of its representation of alien creatures or its somewhat derivative back story but because of the atypical manner in which it approaches the character-based narrative. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenOct 24, 2010
Although the tentative performances of his two human leads proves less satisfying, and the story's not-so-underlying sociological context can be hard to miss -- it takes place along the U.S.-Mexico border -- the overall picture still impresses.
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