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Mexico · 2016
1h 14m
Director Rodrigo Plá
Starring Veronica Falcón, Jana Raluy, Sebastián Aguirre, Emilio Echevarría
Genre Drama, Thriller
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When Sonia receives the news that her husband’s cancer has progressed to a critical stage, she races to secure the insurance company’s approval for the care that can help him. Met with indifference and negligence at every turn, Sonia’s desperation triggers a primal survival instinct as a series of increasingly violent confrontations unfold.
Raluy, a Mexican TV and stage star making her movie debut, is captivating as a woman whose terror at her own behavior is matched only by her bewilderment at the system around her.... But the real star here is Plá, with his total control of the frame.
The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij
This is a lean and efficient mix of thriller, drama and socio-political commentary.
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
The politics of the film are consistently muddled by director Rodrigo Plá's conspicuous formal choices.
New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme
It is engrossing, even funny at times, but it is a bit too jagged in execution to properly build to its tragic climax.
RogerEbert.com by Godfrey Cheshire
The movie deserves to be known, first of all, as a terrific example of intelligent, captivating film craft—further proof of the recent strength of Mexican cinema.
Tempering the strong medicine of its social-justice protestations with a streak of outlandish melodrama, this “Monster” may not have quite as many facets as its title implies, but Pla’s formally deft manipulation of perspective keeps the pic both urgent and even-handed.
Plá's film is a caustic, genuine swipe at a selfish and insincere society which is content to make money from the suffering of ordinary people.
Screen International by Lee Marshall
It’s a nice premise, one grounded and lent empathy not only by a series of strong performances but by the script’s point-of-view shifts.
The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo
It’s worth seeing just for its object lesson in how shifts in perspective can radically alter the tenor and meaning of material that might otherwise come across as pompously silly.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
A Monster With a Thousand Heads will make your blood boil.
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