“Love and Monsters,” directed by Michael Matthews and starring Dylan O’Brien as Joel Dawson, is a monster adventure film. When compared to other sci-fi films, this one stands out because of how skillfully it integrates movie cliches with a variety of well-known genres like adventure, romance, horror, and comedy.
Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Ariana Greenblatt, and Dan Ewing round out the cast. The film is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the animals of Earth have mutated into hostile, enormous beasts as a result of chemical fallout from an asteroid. The remaining humans have taken refuge in underground bunkers after 95% of humanity has been wiped off. Joel emerges from his bunker to see his ex-girlfriend Aimee.
He meets both friends and opponents on his travels. He confronts frightening creatures, befriends a lovely dog, meets two trustworthy individuals who teach him how to survive, reunites with his ex-girlfriend, and frees a compassionate creature from deceptive humans’ bonds. To recognize the film’s outstanding efforts, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects this year.
Because the film was made in Australia, the premise is quite canon for the plot, as memes have gone to great lengths to show off the hazardous species that reside there. The experience of Sloan from the movie’s VFX team, who grew up in Australia, was beneficial during monster creation. And by combining them with ‘quirky small mutations,’ a vast array of amazing species was born.
Despite the animal alterations, no explanation was given as to why humans were unaffected. It may be as simple as humans not being wired in such a way that they can acquire that chemical and evolve as a result, or it could be open endings and story holes created by Michael Matthews on purpose in the event that the film becomes a series. Only time will tell if this is true.
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Titan-Sized Creatures, Their Reign On Earth, And How Joel Swerves Through It All To See His Longtime Sweetheart
The movie begins with the asteroid Agatha 616 heading towards Earth. Clashing with the Earth would cause widespread catastrophe but modern-day technology is here to save the day. The scientists decide to launch their attack against the asteroid and destroy it in the galaxy itself before it can make contact with Earth’s atmosphere. Rockets and missiles are launched towards it and the asteroid is destroyed. But, the real doom was the chemical fallout that succeeded in the destruction of the asteroid.
After being blown apart, the chemical fallout comes into contact with the Earth’s surface. Its result? A mutation in the animals living on Earth, turning them large and cold-blooded. These animals began to prey on people for food and caused humanity to be near the brink of its extinction, with 95% of the human population being eliminated by them.
As a result, the remaining population seceded to living in caves or bunkers located under the Earth’s surface. As the people were evacuated, Joel Dawson (played by Dylan O’Brien) had gotten separated from his girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick). He promises Aimee that he will find her and soon after, his parents are killed by the mutated animals.
Seven years pass by. Joel now lives in a bunker with some other people in their colony. They have a domesticated cow and a little bit of sunshine penetrating into their bunker for their survival. No one had been out in the open for seven years. They fight monsters and look for supplies. Everyone in Joel’s colony had romantically paired up with one another, Joel aside. He was an oddball of sorts. Single. Not good at wielding weapons. And not as brave as the others.
One day, Joel’s colony gets the signal of a giant mutant nearing their colony. Some stay back and some go out to hunt it down but are overpowered by the creature. Joel goes ahead to take on it but as it appears, Joel spends his time thinking about his ex-girlfriend.
He used to use the radio to try and find Aimee’s whereabouts and this time, he contacts the station Aimee is connected to. Joel is ecstatic and talks to his long-lost girlfriend. She tells him that they were going to leave their colony soon because a team was on their way to rescue them. But, the signal gets cut off soon enough. He decides to reunite with Aimee and sets off on his journey to the surface for the first time in seven years.
Joel had a knack for drawing and writing, so he documents his experience on the surface in his diary. He comes across a house with a pond. A giant, hostile toad reveals itself from the water surface and attacks Joel with its tongue. A stray dog comes to his rescue and saves Joel. He follows the dog to a vanity van and learns that his name is ‘Boy’. Two Australian kelpies called Hero and Dodge played ‘Boy’. He shows Joel a clothing item that belonged to his owner, who was nowhere to be found. As Joel leaves for his journey with the cloth, ‘Boy’ joins him.
On his journey, Joel comes across berries and other plants that look like they bear edible fruits but ‘Boy’ warns him of its dangers. Then, Joel falls into a hole where he gets attacked by smaller but dangerous creatures called the sand gobblers. In the nick of time, Joel is saved by a man, Clyde Dutton (played by Michael Rooker), and his daughter Minnow (played by Ariana Greenblatt). Similar to Ariana Greenblatt, Rooker has also been a part of the MCU as he played Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy while Greenblatt played young Gamora. Clyde drops a grenade into the hole and kills off all the sand gobblers. They warn Joel of the Queen Sand-Gobbler, who now has Joel’s smell and is going to hunt him down.
The three of them venture together as they teach Joel about the monsters not being able to live in colder weather. Higher altitudes are convenient because they allow people to get a good view of everything. They encounter a giant snail. Clyde uses Joel’s t-shirt and gives it to the snail to ward off other giant animals while the snail carries Joel’s smell. They also tell Joel that not all monsters were hostile, which can be seen from their eyes themselves, which is why they hadn’t killed the snail.
Joel learns how to wield weapons. He also learns about a plant he can eat if he gets poisoned. But Joel had to go west while Clyde and Minnow were heading north. So, they go their separate ways and Joel gets a grenade as a parting gift.
Joel and Boy head west when a gigantic centipede monster attacks them. Boy gets trapped and Joel gets thrown away while he has a flashback to the time his parents were killed by giant animals as well. Having lost loved ones before, he finds his footing and uses his crossbow to kill the hostile creature and saves Boy.
They take shelter in an abandoned motel where Joel meets a cyborg named Mav1s. Joel uses the electricity from the cyborg to contact Aimee. They speak for a bit until the cyborg’s battery gets really low. It plays the song ‘Stand By Me’ for Joel. He leaves the motel with Boy the next day when they encounter the Queen Sand-Gobbler.
They try to hide but Boy’s barks give away their position. In the end, Joel uses the grenade to kill the Queen but Boy runs away after Joel yells at him for giving their position away. Joel swims across a pond after diving into it to save himself from the explosion but as he comes out, he finds poisonous leeches all over him. This was similar to how Gordy had fallen into a creek and was covered in leeches in the movie ‘Stand By Me’, which is slick foreshadowing when you think about Mav1s playing the song for Joel. Anyway, he hallucinates and is about to collapse but fortunately, is rescued.
When Joel wakes up, he sees Aimee. She makes him meet the other survivors and the crew that was here to rescue them but Aimee has changed. She was also mourning the death of another person whom she loved so Joel decides to go back to his colony, who were unsafe at the moment as well. A guy from the crew, Cap, offered everyone berries, which Joel recognizes as the poisonous berries Boy had prevented him from having. He tries to warn Aimee but is knocked out.
When everyone wakes up, they find themselves tied up on the beach because Cap was here with his crew to steal their supplies. They unleash a Giant Crab-Monster upon them and use an electrified chain to control it. Boy returns to help Joel but Joel realizes that the crab is not hostile. He shoots the chain and controls it and the crab, now freed, stops attacking. It changes its course and attacks Cap and his crew, causing their yacht to sink and the crew with it.
Joel asks Aimee and the others to head north as higher altitudes are safer. Aimee promises to find him as Joel goes back to his colony. He inspires them and even other colonies via the radio to resurface and head north. Meanwhile, Clyde and Minnow wonder if Joel will survive his next journey to the north.
Originally called Monster Problems, “Love and Monster” has been received positively by critics. The premise and monster designs along with the emotional value that the movie offers make it a must-watch for everyone. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, “Love and Monsters” makes space positive, with a palette much more colorful compared to what one would expect in a regular dystopian movie. Director Michael Matthews smashes genres for this film, dabbling into a lot of exciting comedy as Dylan O’Brien goes on an adventure for love.
Unique, Deadly, and Friendly Monsters That Appear In The Movie
Giant Toad
One of the initial creatures Joel encounters in his journey happens to be a hostile, gigantic toad. He walks to a house with a pond. A huge, raggedy toad comes out of the water with a sap green color that blends with the surrounding greenery. Its surface was rough and uneven and it looked like it was slimy to touch.
Similar to normal frogs, it used its tongue to prey on the victims but in true Titan creature fashion, the prey for the toad in this world was humans. It attacks Joel with the tongue. He manages to dodge the first one but the second one gets to him. The toad is strong and drags Joel with ease until Boy comes to his rescue and attacks the toad’s tongue with its canines. It saves Joel who runs away from the place with Boy.
The toad follows suit and breaks the fences with its enormous strength. It comes out on the streets but lacks the intelligence to succeed at pursuing them.
Sand Gobblers
When Joel falls into a hole, another set of hostile creatures living in the creek attack him. These are known as Sand Gobblers and they look like worms but a lot bigger. Let’s just say that these are worms that are twice as big, as a Pomeranian. They also have sharp teeth and make screeching noises when they attack. They are carnivorous creatures who wish to have Dylan O’Brien for dinner but he is saved when Clyde throws him a rope from above.
They can also jump very, very high but sharp blades can cut them off. Most of them are killed off after a grenade is made to explode in their nest.
Queen Sand-Gobbler
Clyde warns Joel of the Queen Sand-Gobbler, who had gotten the smell of Joel after he had fallen into the pit. He tells him that she will hunt him down, as she does.
The Queen Sand-Gobbler is extremely dangerous and hostile. It has a giant fin, which slices through the Earth. It follows every single sound and vibration and attacks accordingly. Joel throws objects to throw off the Queen Sand-Gobbler as it attacks and breaks into the surface with a bang, destroying the land around it.
It is huge, almost a thousand times bigger than a regular Sand-Gobbler, has layers of sharp teeth, brown skin that blends into tree barks, and small tentacle-like parts sprouting from its body.
As Joel defeats it, it uses its huge mouth as an advantage for himself and a handicap for the Queen Sand-Gobbler. It moves like a shark on land and as it attacks, he launches the grenade and throws it into the creature’s huge mouth, causing it to explode into pieces.
Chumbler
Chumblers are, as Clyde and Minnow would put it, a big ‘son of a b’. We don’t really get to see them in action against Joel and co. but we get to see a glimpse of it as the three of them look at it from a higher altitude.
It looks like a huge crab which lives among the trees, moving with the help of its pincers. Definitely an arthropod. It is not friendly but not nearly as hostile as the other three creatures on the list so far. They will definitely try to eat you if it catches you, but Chumblers move really slow and are easy to evade.
Centipede
After Joel and Boy part ways and head westwards while Minnow and Clyde go north, they encounter a gigantic centipede who proves to be quite troublesome for the duo. Its habitat is a dry forest where the leaves have wilted from the trees.
It lives under the ground, covered with a bed of dry leaves. Its pincers come out first until the entire creature materializes on the surface. Hostile and ready for some smoke, the centipede is dark in color with a super-strong tail, that can knock out opponents stealthily.
It has a shell on its back and makes a sound similar to a motor but pitched slightly higher. Its antennae are almost as tall as a human, if not more. As Joel attempts to use a crossbow on it, the creature feels the weapon with its antenna and proves to be intelligent. It attacks Joel as it recognizes his crossbow as a threat. It then wraps itself around a huge toy duck where Boy was hiding. It does so to prevent Boy from escaping.
The centipede squashes the toy and flips it over. Joel thinks about how a similar creature was responsible for his parents’ demise. Tentacle-like limbs sprout out of its mouth as it attempts to attack Boy after blocking his escape routes. When Joel distracts it, it charges at him after being shot with the crossbow at the back. That does not cause much damage as the shell behind the creature protects it. But, Joel takes the next shot at his mouth, which causes the creature’s downfall.
Poisonous Leeches
After Joel kills the Queen Sand-Gobbler, he jumps into a nearby water body to save himself from the creature and the backlash of the grenade explosion which killed it. When in water, poisonous leeches stick themselves onto Joel’s body.
As he tries to get rid of them, the creatures turn out to be slimy and sticky. They are a lot bigger than regular leeches but not nearly as big as the other creatures that have appeared so far. It’s the size of a tiny snake but fatter.
The leeches have a mouth encircled with suction and teeth. They also excrete a weird, peach liquid out of their mouths, which acts as a drug. The effects of the drug or poison that affects Joel are similar to a hallucinogen, causing him to see psychedelic patterns, make weird faces, as the world around him begins to swirl. The veins around his eyes also flare-up.
He is then reminded of the plant Clyde had told him about, which works as an anti-venom. But he remembers it as he collapses on the ground because of the poison, and the plant which is present there, speaks to him directly (which is an effect of the drug).
A toad called the cane toad exists in the real world and releases bufotoxins in its body when threatened. Dogs often lick these toads for the bufotoxins to get high. The leeches are similar in a way, as the toxins are mainly for self-defense and are toxic but also work as a hallucinogenic drug.
Giant Crab
The last creature that Joel faces off against in the movie is a Giant Crab. It is probably the strongest creature faced by him and looks like a creature straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean. It has a pair of eyes that look more scared than dangerous, a huge mouth, an extremely rugged body covered in moss, with spiky eruptions all across it, countless teeth, a bottomless mouth, and deadly pincers. Oh and not to forget enormous strength.
It is brought to attack Aimee’s colony by Cap and his crew. It wreaks havoc across the beach, destroying everything in its way with its claws.
Joel tries to attack it with a trident but the crab knocks the weapon away. Then, a surge of electricity passes through its body via the chains wrapped around it and Joel notices that it is being controlled. It drags Joel by his feet and he gets a cannon from Aimee to shoot at it but then, he looks at its eyes. As we already know, we can determine whether a giant creature is kind or hostile depending on their eyes. When Joel locks his eyes with the crab’s, he realizes that it is a kind creature. He then sees electricity surging through the chain on its body. Joel frees the crab by dislodging the chain with his cannon.
The creature then turns its course and attacks the crew that abused it for its power.
Will There Be A Love And Monsters 2?
“Love and Monsters” ended on a note which makes a sequel a high likelihood. With Minnow and Clyde up in the mountains wondering whether Joel will be able to journey north safely and the people relocating to a new place, hoping for a new start at life, this post-apocalyptic adventure movie could take several routes when it comes to the storyline.
Co-existing with the creatures, meeting newer creatures who are kind and friendly, and facing off against more hostile creatures, the possibilities are several. And they might just be explored as the movie has seen great critical success due to its emotional nature.
But, there is no sequel being developed right now. On a brighter note, the cast and the crew alike are interested in continuing the story and allowing it to branch into a franchise. It is slightly similar to Skull Island in the way that there are overgrown creatures who are hostile, so there’s a chance for “Love and Monsters” to have a franchise of its own.
Unlike the universe of King Kong, Love and Monsters do not have any primary creature on which the spotlight falls, so a sequel could develop that. If not, it will expand the verse and increase the background lore on the creatures. Matthews could also venture into the love story of Joel and Aimee.
Michael Matthews has not treated the movie as a franchise-starter in order to make the plot as strong as possible. In an interview with Decider, he said, “There’s been some discussion about it. I’ve got a few interesting ideas. But we did focus on this just being its own movie.”
In the end, he stated that whether a sequel will be developed or not really depends on the audience.
What did you think of these creatures? Did you enjoy this video? If yes, don’t forget to like and comment on this video. Till then, goodbye. And have a nice one!