The Monster

The Monster (originally titled There Are Monsters) is a 2016 American monster horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino, and starring Zoe Kazan and Ella Ballentine. The film was released through DirecTV Cinema on October 6, 2016, before opening in a limited release on November 11, 2016, via A24. Its plot follows a troubled mother and her adolescent daughter who find themselves stranded at night on a country road with a malicious creature hunting them. Plot Kathy (Zoe Kazan) is driving her teenage daughter Lizzy (Ella Ballentine) to her father's house as it is his turn for custody. Tired of taking care of her abusive, unstable, alcoholic mother, Lizzy makes it clear she wants to live with her father permanently. As night falls, Kathy hits a wolf with her car. But its injuries look like they were sustained by an animal attack rather than their car. Kathy is injured in the collision, forcing Lizzy to call a tow truck and ambulance. The tow truck arrives and its driver, Jesse, begins working underneath the car. Lizzy notices the wolf's body is gone and now becomes frightened. Tired with bickering, Kathy gets out of the car to talk to Jesse but cannot find him. Jesse's severed arm abruptly lands on the hood of the car. A severely mauled Jesse crawls out of the woods, only for a monstrous creature to drag him under the tow truck and eat him before Kathy can help. Attracted by the sound of music emanating from Lizzy's teddy bear, the monster drags Kathy out from the car. Luckily, it is scared away by the approaching ambulance before it is able to kill Kathy. As Kathy and Lizzy cower in the ambulance, the monster slaughters the EMT team. It smashes into the ambulance when Kathy tries to drive off, causing her to swerve into the woods.