What most of us end up expecting romcoms to deliver are these groundbreaking emotional resolutions that are reassuringly final. But since people are ever-growing, ever-changing things, is any emotional resolution ever truly the final thing? Emotions change, so do states of mind. So what I remind myself to look for in these films that are supposed to be feel-good is a breakthrough–a step toward something better, with a long road left ahead. And that’s exactly what I found in Caroline Lindy’s spooky tale of self-love. Yeah, the Monster’s adorable and super supportive, but I think Your Monster is more about Laura’s personal growth than anything else. Let me explain why.
Spoiler Alert
What happens in the film?
Laura couldn’t be having a worse time. No, seriously. Imagine being young and full of dreams and being diagnosed with abdominal cancer. At least she’s got her super loving and reliable boyfriend Jacob by her side as she goes through surgery, right? Nope, no luck there either. He basically abandons Laura when she needs him the most, because apparently, he didn’t sign up to actually love her when he got together with her. Taking care of her is too much for Jacob, I bet he never moved a finger to help her anyway. Laura’s practically got no one when she moves back into her childhood home. Her mom’s done her part by sending a rally of pies and a $5000 check, and her friend Mazie’s all words no action when it comes to being there for her friend recovering from a very serious surgery. There must be something that a bright woman like Laura can look forward to, right? Well, as far as her career goes, her loser ex has stolen all the credit for the Broadway musical Laura helped him write. Seems like Laura’s life has set the perfect stage for her to be open to something new. But Laura doesn’t know what to make of it when that new thing turns out to be a full-blown, charming monster who’s been hiding in her closet.
How does Laura cope with Jacob taking everything from her?
There’s almost no way to keep yourself from being swallowed by self-doubt when you’ve been with someone as horrendous as Jacob for years. So it’s only normal that Laura’s been drained of the last ounce of her confidence. She’s become increasingly passive, jittery with every word she speaks. She doesn’t think she deserves anything. Despite getting no calls from Jacob about the audition for the lead character, Laurie, a character that’s practically based on Laura, she shows up for the audition. Of course, she chokes up in fear and self-consciousness and bombs the audition that she should’ve been a shoo-in for. But not everything’s going awful in this weird fairytale-like circumstance Laura’s found herself in. Monster started out pretty hostile to Laura at first, practically forcing her to leave her own house because he only likes his own company. But Laura grows on Monster. So much so that he lets her stay. Maybe on a subconscious level, the validation of the friendship that grows between Laura and Monster gives her the confidence to put herself out there. She was completely crushed when Jackie, the actress who everyone’s head-over-heels for, got the part that was meant for her. But she swallows the hurt that Jacob’s caused and takes the pity job he offers her anyway.
There’s no denying that Laura still has feelings for Jacob, and that’s partly what motivates her decision to be Jackie’s understudy. She’s still hung up on him even after she walks in on him knocking boots with someone else. But when you look underneath all these insecure, desperate actions, you see a girl who’s after the closure that Jacob never gave her. All her life, she’s been made to justify the pain that people have inflicted on her. And it’s gotten to a point where she actually believes that she doesn’t deserve any better. It’s only when Monster pushes her to open her eyes after that wretched Halloween party with the cast that she even begins to acknowledge that what Jacob did to her was horrible. That realization and the rage that follows are what contribute to the strength she shows when she goes ballistic on Jacob for waving his giant ego around and treating everyone else like trash. But here’s the thing about growth. It’s almost never linear. The romance brewing between Laura and Monster was good for her. It’s the only thing that puts a smile on her face for a change. But Laura isn’t completely over Jacob yet. It’s a total high for him to hear how much Laura loves him. What else do you expect from a narcissist? Even though he fully knows that he’s gonna fire her for “going out of line,” Jacob sleeps with her to feel good about himself. When Laura lashes out at Monster, she’s only projecting how terrible she feels about herself. And when Monster leaves her all alone, you see that little self-destructive streak in Laura and recognize how it’s made her push away love because she has a hard time letting herself be happy. At this point, she feels too empty to even be happy about the fact that she’s beaten cancer.
Is Monster Real Or Imaginary?
Your Monster‘s final act is a long trail of reality checks for Laura. While she did stand up for Jackie when Jacob was bullying her, Laura’s been under the impression that Jacob and Jackie have been an item for a while. You can chalk all that up to all that flirtatious energy between the director of the play and the lead actress. But Jackie’s a girl’s girl. She takes a few steps back the moment she gets to know how Jacob had very abruptly dumped Laura and snubbed everything she cared about. When she goes over to Laura’s place to clear the air, they plan to make a fool of Jacob on the big opening night and let Laura play the role that she meant to play. Carrying out the plan comes at the tall cost of Laura realizing that Jackie wasn’t the one sleeping with Jacob. It was actually her own supposed friend, Mazie. But she was a terrible friend anyways. So no big loss there.
In Your Monster’s ending, Laura pours her heart and soul into the performance of her dreams. Monster may not be in her life at the moment, but being around him has shifted something in Laura. So when Jacob attacks her backstage, her rage is what summons Monster. It’s curious how Monster kills Jacob the exact same way Laura said she’d kill him when he told her that she was destroying his life. It makes you wonder if Monster is real or the manifestation of all of Laura’s pent up rage. When Laura met Monster, he mentioned that they’d met before when they were both kids and then teenagers. The first time was when a little Laura felt terribly alone and scared, and the second was when a boy got mad at her for her having rejected his advances.
And then, Monster came back into her life when she was wronged, hurt, and abandoned. Judging by how her mom wasn’t there for her even when she fought cancer, it’s safe to say that Laura didn’t feel loved even as a child. So maybe the idea of the monster under her bed was the closest thing to a friend she had growing up. Laura silently accepted the cards she was dealt. But there must’ve been a lot of anger someone in her circumstances had inside. So Monster could very well be an imaginary friend who came back into Laura’s life to remind her not to take Jacob’s awful treatment lying down. It’s only when she fully embraces her rightful rage that Laura feels strong enough to fight back. But then again, I guess it’s totally up to you to decide whether you believe Monster is real or not. If you see Your Monster as a fairytale, you’re right to believe that Laura found love in a very real, very sweet Monster who’s protective of her, sometimes in a homicidal way. Or, you could also see Your Monster‘s ending as Laura learning to love the side of her that’s been lying dormant for a long time–the side of her that people wouldn’t dare mess with.
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