Indie VOD Pick: Zoe Kazan Is Amazing in ‘The Monster’

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Earlier this year, IndieWire Senior Film Critic David Ehrlich wrote an essay highlighting how some of the year’s greatest performances were hidden in indie horror movies. One example was the always-reliable Zoe Kazan, whose terrified work as a single mother in “The Monster” singlehandedly elevates the movie to an effective nightmare. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise that ‘The Monster’ boasts (at least) one of the year’s best performances, but it does,” he wrote, before hailing the actress as “ferocious” and “achingly graceful.”

Kazan’s incredible work is enough of a reason to give “The Monster” a look on VOD this week. The horror film comes from director Bryan Bertino, whose home invasion thriller “The Strangers” was an overlooked genre gem before gaining a still-growing cult following in the years since. That fate is bound to meet “The Monster” as well, which tells the story of a mother and daughter going to battle with a hellish beast after they crash their car on a rainy evening.

So much of “The Monster” rests in its quick surprises that build across its charged 90-minute runntime. To spoil it would be a crime, but just know that you’re in good hands with the supremely talented Kazan. Halloween may be over, but “The Monster is still worth your time. Ehrlich makes the case for the indie horror film in the video below.