‘Monolith’ Review – A Great Horror Example Of The Less-Is-More Approach [FrightFest 2023]

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Choosing a horror movie as your first feature is very clever. There’s always a thirst for horror, and because of the broadness of the genre, there’s so much you can do with it. You can go over the top and create a slasher full of blood and gore, or keep it smaller and focus on the more psychological suspense aspect. Matt Vesely chose the latter option for this directional debut, which more than pays off. Monolith, based on a great script by Lucy Campbell (The Big Nothing), is an effective, multilayered, slow burner.

After losing her job for ethical misconduct, a young journalist (Lily Sullivan), only known as the ‘The Interviewer’, tries to restart her journalistic career. While isolating herself in the remote home of her parents, she launches a mystery podcast called Beyond Believable. ‘The Interviewer’ is on the lookout for a new and possibly breakthrough story, and when an anonymous e-mail comes in, she may have found the perfect topic. The e-mail is about a woman who received a black brick. It’s not an ordinary house brick. No, the more questions ‘The Interviewer’ asks, the clearer it becomes that the out-of-this-world brick ruined the woman’s life.

What unfolds throughout the podcast and this movie is a bizarre, weird and perhaps dangerous mystery. The stories ‘The Interviewer’ encounters go back as far as twenty years. The people who received such a brick soon after had to deal with sickness and unexplainable visions. Don’t expect Monolith to be purely a sci-fi mystery about those bricks and illnesses. The film also explores ‘The Interviewer’s’ relationship with finding or fabricating the truth, gaining and using personal information and internet speculation. There’s also a hint of classism, prejudice and privileges in society through this movie.

Because her podcast has become extremely popular, ‘The Interviewer’ receives many similar stories and many outlandish conspiracy theories. One of those is that the bricks spread through word of mouth, but the podcaster certainly doesn’t fear that. She keeps creating episodes about the bricks and encourages more people to tune in and send in their stories. That is until ‘The Interviewer’ finds a similar package outside her door. Will she soon find out for herself what these bricks do?

All the interviews about these creepy bricks take place over the phone, and therefore Sullivan is the only person you see on-screen. Doing a one-person film can be extremely tough, as the lead needs to command your attention right from the offset. Luckily, Sullivan, who recently impressed in Evil Dead Rise, does precisely that. She’s outstanding and keeps you on your toes with her tour-de-force performance. The intriguing, reactive and captivating way she keeps the conversations between her character and the interviewees flowing is why this movie works exceptionally well.

Sullivan fully embodies the journey of a woman who goes from being a professional interviewer to one who’s going down a dark, deep rabbit hole too fast. When the different stories and pieces of this dark and personal puzzle fall into place, Sullivan’s performance becomes even more gripping and nuanced. The final scenes, when the recordings make place for violence and action, certainly come as a shock.

The conversations and recordings might become repetitive and predictable, but not Sullivan’s performance. Her acting continues to be extremely solid. That’s also partly due to the intensity cinematographer Michael Tessari (In The Wake) brings to this movie with the very effective use of every inch of the confines of the small room. You often see close-ups of the audio equipment, which brings the stories even closer to you. Monolith is undoubtedly a great example of the less-is-more approach. The movie creates the ambiguous, dark atmosphere this storyline needs; the rest is up to you and your imagination. All you have to do is listen.

Monolith is a stunning example of how you can create a thrilling, dark feature with a minimalistic method. The movie undoubtedly wouldn’t have the same significant impact on you if it weren’t for Sullivan’s top-notch performance. While some threads are left unsolved, the spooky final act will make you shiver as it is downright chilling and startling.

Monolith had its UK premiere during FrightFest 2023 courtesy of Blue Finch Films. No US release date has been announced yet.

Director: Matt Vesely

Writer: Lucy Campbell

Rated: NR

Runtime: 94m