By David Dent
I’ll get this out of the way; I was so not the right demographic for this one. Having mentioned that, I’m not sure who the right demographic is for MONSTER SUMMER; director David Henrie only has one other feature to his name, the wholesome teen comedy THIS IS THE YEAR from 2021, and judging by MS this is the way he wants to go with all his movies (Henrie is also an actor, whose claim to fame was starring in the wholesome TV show HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER).
It’s the 1990s and life in Martha’s Vineyard (actually North Carolina) revolves around bike riding, baseball and being generally awkward. The timescale deliberately obviates the presence of presumably unwholesome things like mobile phones and computers. Young Noah (Mason Thames), wants to become a writer, just like dad, who’s not around any more. To make ends meet Noah’s mum (Nora Zehetner) has to rent rooms, the latest occupant being a strange old lady (Lorraine GOODFELLAS Bracco).
Out swimming at night, Noah’s friend Ben (Noah Cottrell) runs into a mysterious figure and is pulled under; afterwards he appears vacant. Noah suspects his new (old) lodger, and also possibly a loner on the edge of town, Gene (Mel Gibson) who turns out to be a cop whose own son was abducted forty years previously.
Wouldbe journo Noah senses a story and starts poking around, and as more children get ‘taken over’ he and Gene step up their investigations, eventually coming across the island’s dark secret.
“One wrong accusation can ruin a person’s reputation” says Gene at one point, a line presumably included to justify Henrie’s casting of the formerly troubled soul Gibson. Mel gets to play the wholesome character part and is, sadly, about the best thing in this. The phrase ‘cookie cutter’ gets used a lot but is the perfect description for the shallow narrative and characterisation in this movie.
Underneath all this there’s a thoroughly unpleasant story waiting to happen, but the sheen of naivety that lays over the whole production removes any sting that might have been. This is, sadly, woeful stuff, and as honest and truthful as Henrie thinks he’s being, this feels like an extremely superficial film.
Monster Summer is available now on digital platforms.
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