Scream star Melissa Barrera literally finds a monster (Tommy Dewey) living in her closet after an awful break-up during Vertical’s Your Monster. Director and writer Caroline Lindy’s horror comedy starts streaming exclusively on Max beginning Friday, Jan. 24. Following the film’s global debut, fans can also watch Lindy and Barrera’s collaboration on HBO’s linear lineup starting Saturday, Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. EST.
Your Monster originally hit theaters back on Oct. 25, 2024, but flew under the radar and escaped the attention of many moviegoers thanks to the theatrical release of both Venom: The Last Dance and Conclave. Check out the synopsis for Your Monster below, courtesy of the film’s official website:
“Your Monster tells the story of the soft-spoken actor Laura Franco (Barrera), who is dumped by her longtime boyfriend (Edmund Donovan) while recovering from surgery and retreats to her childhood home to recover. With her future looking bleak, insult is added to injury when Laura discovers her ex is staging a musical that she helped him develop. But out of these gut-wrenching life changes emerges a monster (Dewey) with whom she finds a connection, encouraging Laura to follow her dreams, open her heart and fall in love with her inner rage.”
Your Monster struggled mightily at the box office as the film made a mere $745,652 domestically (per Box Office Mojo). The Barrera-led flick fared even worse internationally and only brought in $58,879. $46,936 of that total came from Russia. Meanwhile, Your Monster picked up $8,380 (United Kingdom), $2,401 (Australia), and $1,162 (New Zealand) elsewhere overseas for a worldwide total of only $804,531.
‘Your Monster’ Is Far Better Than Its Poor Box Office Numbers Indicate
Melissa Barrera proved she was “here to stay” after being controversially fired from the Scream franchise. In fact, Your Monster turned out to be a splendid and wickedly fun good time, despite the film’s poor performance at the box office. Barrera’s latest horror flick actually received many respectable reviews from the critics, which led to a Tomatometer rating of 78% against 88 reviews posted to Rotten Tomatoes.
Your Monster fared even better with the fans, as the modern-day take on Beauty and the Beast boasted a Popcornmeter rating — formerly the RT audience score — of 85%. Fans of the former Scream star will certainly enjoy the versatile actress flexing her acting chops in the heartwarming horror rom-com. In fact, Barrera calls her character, Laura Franco, a “dream role.” Barrera said in an interview with Forbes while promoting the movie’s theatrical release back in October 2024 (per Forbes):
“I’m a sucker for romance. I love a good rom-com. I miss the rom-coms of the ‘90s and the early 2000s. I read this [script] and it felt special. It felt timeless – it felt like [Caroline [Lindy] was doing something original, and it felt epic in a way. It had all the genres that I love – like it had some horror, it had a creature, it had a romance – rom-com – musical. So, it felt like a dream role to me.”
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In addition to Barrera, Tommy Dewey, and Edmund Donovan, Your Monster also stars Kayla Foster, Ikechukwu Ufomadu, and Meghann Fahy. Foster and Lindy also serve as producers on the project along with Kira Carstensen, Melanie Donkers, and Shannon Reilly. For those who are still on the fence about whether to watch the movie or not, be sure to check out MovieWeb’s Your Monster review (3/5 stars), which teases that “Barrera gets emo with her hot wolfman roommate.” Your Monster is now available on all the usual VOD platforms to buy ($14.99) or rent ($5.99), including Fandango at Home, formerly Vudu.
Soft-spoken actress Laura Franco’s life crumbles, but she regains her voice after encountering a terrifying but oddly charming Monster living in her closet.
- Release Date
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January 18, 2024
- Runtime
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98 Minutes