by Nick Nitkowski

“Your Monster” is a romantic comedy horror blend of a film about a girl named Laura, played by Melissa Barrera, who after recently being dumped by her boyfriend discovers a Monster, played by Tommy Dewey, is living in her closet and soon starts to form a close bond with each other. This film was definitely not on my radar. Like, ‘s nowhere near my radar of movies to watch this year. But by the grace of the every-once-in-a-while occurring Monday Mystery Movie, this film was presented to audiences and I watched it knowing absolutely nothing about it. So how was this mystery rom-com horror movie?

Well, since I had no real expectations, it couldn’t possibly disappoint me, but it was definitely better than I thought it was going to be. As the film started off, I had no idea where it was going, so it took me a little while to fully get on board with it. The movie is metaphorical about loving your inner beast and I predicted that once the Monster was introduced. However, there were a few choices made in the film that left me scratching my head until the very last moment of the film.

When it comes to the acting, there’s not much to write home about. Everyone in the film did well for the assignments they were given. Melissa Barrera has proven to be a great actress and she did a good job here. The other characters were just fine, but the performance that stood out the most was definitely Tommy Dewey as the Monster. He had a good blend of menace, charm, and humor. Since he’s the title character, he had to do the most and help carry the load. Otherwise, the whole movie would have fallen apart. But I can say without doubt that he kept me interested in what was happening and therefore he was the best part of the whole movie. 

For those not in the know, I am not a fan of romcoms. Mostly because 9 times out of 10, they are all the same. Every once in a while, I do find one that stands out from the rest, but they are very few and far between. While mixing a horror element into the rom-com formula feels a bit questionable, it definitely helped make this particular rom-com stand out more. Granted, it’s still not my cup of tea and it doesn’t hold much of a candle to the standouts I have seen, but credit where credit is due, this easily could have been an unwatchable mess, but thankfully it wasn’t. 

Overall, “Your Monster” is what I would call the perfect date night movie for the Halloween season provided that your significant other is one of the less hardcore Halloween fans. There’s a little bit of violence, but I’d consider it a very small amount that should be tolerable for the squeamish. The rom-com aspect of this film greatly outweighs the horror aspect, so don’t expect any over-the-top gruesome or frightening images or jump scares here. Not much of a Monster of a movie, but for the ones looking for something a little more tame for the season, this one’s definitely  Yours.

3/5 stars