An eight-episode series of Monsterland (Monsterland) launched on October 2, 2020 on the Hulu channel. The author of the screenplay is Mary Laws based on the collection of short stories by Nathan Ballingrud “Monsters of the Lakes of North America” (North American Lake Monsters). These novels are almost unrelated to each other. This series is not always about fantastic monsters, but about homo sapiens, who demonstrate their sometimes disgusting essence. But there are also supernatural creatures that push broken people to desperate acts in their attempts to fix their lives, showing us this fine line between man and monster.
There is a tortured single mother who barely makes ends meet, and not by chance lets a maniac into her house. Her terrifying final decision makes you wonder which of them is worse. This series is based on the story “By the will of the waves” (You Go Where It Takes You). Both characters from the TV series Justice, where she was still a girl, and he ruined the hat to Raylan Givens. Caitlin Dever starred in 3 episodes of the series, with a dozen other actors in 2 episodes, but the rest appear only once.
Tony faces the inevitable every day.
There is another mother who has exchanged the safety of her child for a golden cage and material well-being. There is a greedy oil tycoon who despised morality and morality, and a successful clean yuppie who suddenly found himself involved in what his boss was doing. There is a gamer who hates the whole world, his father and himself at the same time, not trying to change anything, chasing ghostly shadows, blaming them for his failures. Here, a successful find of the director is how the interlocutors from the chat quite realistically gather in our hero’s room.
The star of the series “Orange is the hit of the season” is in the same role here, and the episode with her is brilliant hyperbole, which can lead to marital relations. Sometimes they can be compared to a dead horse. You can learn to love this horse, not to notice that it is dead, but the fact is obvious. And if the horse is dead, get off it.
Kate, the uneven passion
I remember the domestic film “About freaks and people”, where the mores of ordinary human beings turn out to be absolutely disgusting, and those who are rejected and thrown to the other side of life because of their physical disabilities, those whom we used to consider freaks, show humanity.
The titles of the series are cities from Oregon to New York, from Michigan to Texas – an entertaining monstrous geography. The southern states have always been full of folklore skeletons in the closet, but the northern ones are not far behind in terms of the ominousness of the characters.
The night guest
A separate director worked on each episode:
1. Port Forshon, Louisiana – Anne Sevitsky
2. Eugene, Oregon – Kevin Phillips
3. New Orleans, Louisiana – Craig William McNeil
4. New York, NY – Egil Egilsson
5. Plainfield, Illinois – Logan Kibens
6. Palacios, Texas – Nicholas Pesquet
7. Iron River, Michigan – Desiree Akhavan
8. Newark, New Jersey – Babak Anvari
The imagination of the creators deserves praise. Each episode is equipped with a rather unexpected denouement. These finales are more bookish than cinematic. We are invited to figure out the rest ourselves. This is American Gothic mixed with horror, thriller, magical realism and allegories. It was not without racial political correctness and a pinch of LGBT, but thank you for not being sweetened with this rainbow. The series where Piper from “Orange” is based on the story “The Good Husband”, who gives his betrothed to finish her next suicide.
Monsterland is about the fact that America is a rather unhappy and God-forsaken country, and ordinary people harbor terrible essences. The human soul is the abode of demons rather than angels. Hell and heaven are within us, but the scales are inexorably tipping down.
