Love and Monsters is a dystopian monster adventure film directed by Michael Matthews and stars Dylan O'Brien (American Assassin, Bumblebee), Jessica Henwick (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), and Michael Rooker (Cliffhanger, Guardians of the Galaxy).  

Love and Monsters follows Joel Dawson on his quest to reunite with his lost love as he navigates a dystopian future filled with mutated monsters. 

When Joel leaves his compound to pursue love, he mounts what might amount to a suicide mission. He’s idealistic and naïve and looking for a place where he truly belongs. 

Along the way, he meets Clyde Dutton (Michael Rooker) and Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt). While Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt work well here as his sometimes companions, they provide little plot development. Any emotion built up between them is never touched on again and wasted. 

The move is a little too sweet for my taste. I found Love and Monsters watchable but mediocre, and all too predictable. 

The human interactions don't come across as realistic and the chemistry between characters, except the two leads, is never established. It’s as if all the humans live in a 1960s communion at the end of the world. 
The creature effects are strong and there are a few scenes of high tension. However, for a dystopian world, the necessities of life, like food, water, and shelter, are glossed over. By the end of the journey, I never felt Joel was in that much danger or faced enough hardship. 

The finale seemed sanitized except for the creature scene. Aimee’s (Jessica Henwick) unexplained fighting ability turned her into a superhero and didn’t work for me in this film. 

I don’t get all the hype.

Love and Monsters is streaming on EPIX.

Story Doctoring:

The story needs more gritty realism, along with beating up the protagonist in more ways than one. A greater connection to the secondary characters would increase the emotional resonance. Darker implications for the ending would be welcome. 

Rating:

Three out of five stars.