Podcast Horror ‘Monolith’ Is A Sci-Fi Nightmare [SXSW 2023 Review]
Mary Beth McAndrews
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Everyone has a podcast nowadays. Hell, even I have two podcasts. With this rising audio obsession, podcasting and podcasters have obviously leaked into the world of horror films. From Halloween (2018) to Bodies Bodies Bodies, podcasters are often the butt of the joke with their singular vision of success. But in Matt Vesely’s feature film Monolith, podcasting is more than a joke; it’s a medium with terrifying potential.
Lily Sullivan plays an unnamed journalist who is simply referred to as The Interviewer. After failing to fact-check a story and therefore tanking her career, she flees to her parents’ massive yet brutalist country home to recalibrate and start a new project: a podcast. This new podcast aims to debunk hoaxes and deep dive into conspiracy theories. It’s millennial cat nip and the Interviewer knows it. With her impressive audio set-up, she begins searching for the first topic for the podcast. Then she receives a golden opportunity via an anonymous email containing a name, a phone number, and brief information about a mysterious black brick.
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Instead of just trashing the email, she calls the number, belonging to a maid named Floramae (Ling Cooper Tang). Floramae briefly explains that she was accused of stealing the black brick by her former employers and it ruined her life. The Interviewer’s curiosity is piqued and from there, she falls down a science fiction rabbit hole about these bricks that have appeared all over the world for decades.
Once the first episode immediately starts raking in thousands of downloads and hundreds of five-star ratings, the Interviewer is only further encouraged to go deeper. Emails flood in with their brick stories and she believes she’s hit the journalism jackpot. But of course, with all conspiracy theories, paranoia sets in and we begin to doubt our unreliable narrator.
Sullivan is the film’s anchor and the only person who appears on screen for the entire runtime. We see the world through her skewed perspective and only hear the voices of her interview subjects through phone speakers and headphones. Monolith is almost entirely audio-focused, which at points makes you feel like this would be better served as an audio-drama or its own podcast. But, that means we wouldn’t be able to watch Sulivan’s masterful performance.
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Save for a few shocking moments, the camera is focused on Sullivan’s physicality, tracking her descent into madness and paranoia. And Sullivan stuns, carrying the weight of Monolith on her shoulders like it’s merely a feather. Her growing frantic nature ups the tension, and also helps sell whatever strange mystery is revealing itself. Is it real? Or is it all in her head?
While audio-focused horror films like The Vast of Night supplement their story-telling with dazzling visuals and tracking shots, Vesely opts for a more lo-fi approach. Instead, cinematographer Michael Tessari evokes an oppressive mood as he moves around the massive estate. Yes, there’s a lot of natural light flooding in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, but the house still feels dark. Concrete walls and shadowy rooms are the Interviewer’s own self-imposed prison where her only connections are through the phone. It’s effective, yes, but for less patient viewers it may lose its charm fast.
But for fans of sci-fi and mysterious slow burn, Monolith delivers beautifully. Lucy Campbell‘s script is smart and crafts a massive web of conspiracy within such a contained world. But Campbell doesn’t just stick to the science fiction of it all. She also weaves in a cutting commentary about privilege and what that affords figures like journalists.
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Monolith is a film that demands the viewer pay close attention. If they aren’t listening closely, they may miss a crucial piece of information, similar to a found footage film. In a way, Monolith enters a new kind of subgenre with films like the aforementioned Vast of Night and even Pontypool that play with audio horror instead of purely visual horror. It’s a hard balance to strike, especially with the growing popularity of horror fiction podcasts. While Monolith isn’t as visual, it makes up for it with an engaging mystery.
Monolith is an impressive indie horror feat with a killer reveal to reward patient viewers. Thanks to gorgeous cinematography, a fascinating script, and a stellar performance from Sullivan, Monolith shines as a unique new piece of horror that reflects the terrors of podcasting and what can lurk within the audio medium. Vesely delivers a gorgeous piece of lo-fi sci-fi that’ll creep in through your ears and nestle itself in the folds of your brain.
Summary
With Monolith, director Matt Vesely delivers a gorgeous piece of lo-fi sci-fi that’ll creep in through your ears and nestle itself in the folds of your brain.
