56
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMonster is a terrific film: a strong, absorbing, beautifully performed and crafted social drama that, unfortunately, proves even timelier today than when it was shot in 2017.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleChris VognarSan Francisco ChronicleChris VognarIf Monster occasionally shows its YA roots with flashes of simplicity, it also tells a lean, propulsive story with style and grace.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperThis is an A-list cast that consistently elevates the material, even when we’re traveling down some very familiar roads.
- 70Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMonster is a good movie that could have been a better one. Mandler needs to trust both his film and his audience more. Give him points for trying, but he’s just trying too hard.
- 67The PlaylistLeslie Byron PittThe PlaylistLeslie Byron PittOne of the strongest aspects of Monster lies in the film’s well-picked, finely tuned cast.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeIt’s in many ways a minor, almost mundane, story with an ending that chooses the small over the big but it resonates just about enough, a quiet scream in the darkness, now able to be heard in living rooms across the world.
- 55CNNBrian LowryCNNBrian LowryUltimately, though, the movie feels most notable for the cast assembled, from Harrison -- who subsequently starred in "Waves" and "Luce," and is again very good here -- to smallish roles for Jerome (an Emmy winner for "When They See Us") as a witness and Washington ("Tenet" and "BlacKkKlansman") as James' partner in crime.
- 50The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldBased upon a 1999 young-adult novel by Walter Dean Myers, Monster conveys the ache for all that its protagonist could lose, but it can’t escape the dramatic ruts of its own creation.
- 50The A.V. ClubVikram MurthiThe A.V. ClubVikram MurthiThere’s plenty of complexity to be mined from a scenario in which perception carries more weight than the truth, but director Anthony Mandler, a music video and commercial veteran making his feature debut, takes a broad-strokes approach to Steve’s plight.