Monolith (2016)

Monolith (2016)

Also known as ‘Stranded’ or ‘Monolith – No Way Out’!

Not to be confused with Matt Vesse’s more recent film: Monolith (2022)

This film focuses on Katrina Bowden, for once! She doesn’t always have such a big role in her films. Her film choices have shown that she is capable of the worst, such as Piranha DD (2012), The Shortcut (2009), Nurse (2013), Hunters Moon (2020), the very average to decent, such as Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010), but also the very good, such as Great White (2021). This one falls into the decent category.

It’s a film that has all the makings of a television movie. But Katrina does well, once again. Extremely well, even! We see her go from one emotion to another. She goes through phases of joy, then worry, then fear, before returning to euphoria. I don’t think she was a mother when she made this film, but you could already see a certain maternal instinct in her. My girlfriend has often said the same thing about Angelina Jolie, especially in relation to Clint Eastwood’s film Changeling (2008).

Bowden plays a very human character. Sometimes endearing, sometimes irritating, annoying, but very accurate in her interpretation. Undoubtedly one of her best performances in a film that certainly went unnoticed. Yet, in 2016, it already showed the potential dangers of AI-driven cars of the future. A kind of prevention that seemed very exaggerated and naive not so long ago. And yet, more and more people are finding many reasons to be afraid. Especially when faced with those who throw themselves into modern technology without thinking too much and without seeing all the negative aspects that terrify and obsess others in a paranoid way. Some people’s dreams are other people’s nightmares.

Life is not easy for a young mother whose husband travels far away and whose fidelity she doubts, while she has to keep her eyes glued to the road in a new car that looks like a tank! It’s not easy to keep your attention on an energetic child who can’t talk yet, when your dream was to be able to sing and become a pop queen.

Life catches up with us. We always have to make choices and we are often convinced that we have made the wrong ones, and we realise that we can’t go back and convince ourselves that nothing will change for the better.

However, there are some quite funny scenes, particularly dialogues such as: “By the way, how much do you weigh?

• What kind of question is that??” Especially since it’s not something women do to each other!!!

It’s hard not to swear in front of a child when everything is falling apart and friends are becoming bad influences. Anyway! I’m probably getting a little too inspired and philosophical about a film that no one knows and which may seem, on the contrary, very superficial. But this story shows, once again, that all it takes is one bad choice to turn everything upside down. Going through point C when you should have gone from point A to B can quickly have disastrous consequences. Probably even more so if you make this new choice under the influence of anger or another negative emotion.

It’s worth noting that Katherine Kelly Lang provides the voice of the car. This actress, best known for her role as Brooke in the soap opera The Bold & The Beautiful, is also one of the associate producers.

There’s also a nod to the cartoon Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner! Or to a similar cartoon.

Let me be very clear: I enjoyed this film, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The first time I saw it, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I gave it a second chance and realised that I really love the first part, before the drama unfolds. The second half of the film is difficult to watch because there are moments of boredom, but it’s also a daunting task to make a survival film with only one woman and a very young child. There are also exaggerations that become exasperating, and the child can also become very annoying, even though he is perfectly normal.

The rest will contain spoilers, just in case! So thank you for reading this far, that’s already great.

So, I found an extremely negative review that completely trashed this film. Now it’s my turn to have some fun completely trashing that review. Here we go!

“A mother, driving her “Monolith” (an ultra-modern SUV equipped with artificial intelligence), finds herself stranded in the middle of nowhere in the desert. Her kid has managed to lock himself in the vehicle while she was outside, so she has to do everything she can to get him out alive (because, of course, it’s crazy hot and the lil guy is going to slowly suffocate to death, suffocating like a rag in the jalopy).”

• Already, this comment is very disrespectful to the child. I can tell that this person does not have children and does not understand much about maternal instinct. It started off well, but this review just gets worse and worse.

‘Based on a completely stupid script that is foolishly stretched out over 75 minutes (during which absolutely nothing happens), Ivan Silvestrini has created a typical example of a telly film for housewives. It’s unbelievable rubbish that you can’t get into at all.’

There is some truth to this, but unfortunately it is written with such hatred and vulgarity that it loses all its value!

“Not only is it completely stupid, but on top of that, you really wonder what possessed you to voluntarily waste your time watching this drivel. As the heroine is alone in front of the camera (alternating with rare shots of her child), she starts talking to him or to herself (well, yes, otherwise it would be a silent film!). As a result, she talks incessantly about nothing (or comments on her every move), and it quickly becomes annoying. Stupid as she is, she regularly makes appalling decisions that defy all logic (special mention to the sequence where, in the middle of the desert, she finds herself in front of a plane wreckage and decides to check if there is anyone inside to ask for help).”

• It’s difficult to understand characters when you have no empathy. Some people believe they would react in the best possible way in dramatic situations, but it’s easier to judge a film than to put yourself in the protagonists’ shoes. Total despair, racing against time, dehydration and hunger are all factors to consider. Without all this, it is indeed easier to make decisions or not see mirages.

Furthermore, no, she does not talk incessantly! It is normal to talk to oneself aloud when under stress or in danger. The sound of our own voice reassures us and allows us to concentrate better, depending on the individual.

“As for the famous ultra-modern SUV, they simply gave a Land Rover Discovery Sport an outrageous makeover by putting wheel covers on it and remodelling the bumper. The rest is pretty crude and boils down to internal additions to the vehicle in post-production.”

• It’s great to know so much about cars. It’s a shame to know so little about human psychology and have zero compassion!

“Just when you think you’ve seen it all (and endured it all), the film goes from one surprise to another, particularly at the 66th minute when she decides to simply drive into a ravine (with her brat inside) because, stupid as she is, she thinks that the impact will open the car but her kid will still be alive!

• I admit that the further we get into the film, the more disappointing it becomes. But that’s no reason to insult the mother and her kid at every turn!

“Add to that a completely WTF sequence (and a perfectly disgusting rendering) with a crappy CGI reconstruction of the SUV. In short, it’s absolutely terrible throughout, and it’s even impressive to see how there’s nothing to be salvaged.”

• The person who wrote this entire comment has apparently never seen any truly bad films! Some people are so lucky!!!

But all this allows us to see at least two points of view on this film. I don’t love it, but it doesn’t deserve the worst rating or the award for worst feature film of all time.

It’s up to you to decide if you want to watch it. But don’t make it a priority!