Monsters

Monsters is one of the little treasures of 2010. It was made very cheaply, and yet it brims with life. It was directed, written, shot, and special effect-ized by Gareth Edwards. With Monsters, he perhaps begins a fruitful career. For, Edwards understands what it means to thrill an audience. Rather than showing us his monsters up close in the first scene, he allows them to stay hidden in the background until the very end. Now then, Monsters tells an allegorical story. One of aliens (or monsters?) that have overtaken the northern half of Mexico. Opening titles explain that while searching for extra-terrestrial life, a probe that had obtained samples from another planet, crashed in Mexico. Monsters have over-ridden the country, and it is now off limits. However, the Mexican locals take people through to reach the border, while American fighter jets bomb the landscape from above. Make of these allegories as you will, but they don't even begin to describe or represent what occurs in the film. Andrew and Samantha are our main characters, and they have to trek through the infected zone in order to reach America. They are well played and well constructed (apropos to the writing) and as they move through the unknown, they discover what they otherwise would never have been able to.
Monsters: ★★★