{"id":285957,"date":"2024-04-27T00:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T04:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/25yearslatersite.com\/?p=285957"},"modified":"2024-04-27T11:48:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T15:48:42","slug":"monolith-when-podcasters-get-high-on-their-own-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/25yearslatersite.com\/2024\/04\/27\/monolith-when-podcasters-get-high-on-their-own-supply\/","title":{"rendered":"Monolith: When Podcasters Get High on Their Own Supply"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monolith<\/em><\/a> opens with a single enticing line spoken over a black screen, “I want to tell you a story.” Over the next moments, a narrative unfolds into lunacy. The screen pulls back to an extreme close-up of a microphone, then to a home office, in the same space where viewers will spend all but a few moments of the movie, and with the same character, The Interviewer (Lily Sullivan), who viewers will share the space for the duration. This opening moment is a nearly perfect capsule of the entire film.<\/p>\n

\"A
Photo courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Interviewer, we learn shortly after she ends the opening call with an apparent conspiracy theorist, is a disgraced journalist embarking on a new career working on\u00a0Beyond Believable<\/em>, a podcast about unexplained phenomena. Her studio, for the time being, is in her parents\u2019 home while they are on vacation. At a loss for a topic for her first episode, she receives a cryptic email from an unknown sender, about a woman, Floramae King (Ling Cooper Tang), and \u201cthe brick.\u201d A skeptic\u2014as is made clear by her mocking of the podcast\u2019s potential audience\u2014The Interviewer is a journalist first and goes straight to investigating the email. Her doubt remains even after speaking with Floramae, who tells a story of being fired and shunned by a wealthy family. Floramae used to housekeep for them, but after they accused her young daughter of trashing thousands of dollars worth of furniture, she was let go. This unfortunate turn of events occurred after a mysterious black brick showed up at Floramae\u2019s home. How the brick showed up remains unclear. One day, it was simply there. When the family fired Floramae, they took the brick and sold it to a shady art dealer in an attempt to recoup their losses from the destruction of their furniture. It is after The Interviewer tracks down and speaks with the art dealer that Monolith<\/em> takes off.<\/p>\n

We learn, of course, that the brick is not a lone brick, but one of many. In addition to giving off a sense of doom and alienness, the bricks dredge up deeply buried guilt, fear, and anxiety for anyone finding themselves in possession of one. The only time the movie leaves The Interviewer\u2019s presence is when listeners call in to share their stories of the visions they have suffered since the brick came into their lives. None of them seem to know where the brick came from, or what it really is, and no matter how bad their brick\u2019s invocations make them feel, they do not part with their bricks…with one exception.<\/p>\n

\"A
Photo courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monolith <\/em>excels at embedding The Interviewer\u2019s isolation and escalating obsession into the viewer\u2019s experience, not just by limiting the setting\u2014The Interviewer never leaves the patio, and even has her food delivered\u2014but by the setting itself. It’s a singular house with big windows and expansive views of unpeopled vistas only emphasize how alone The Interviewer is. This is enhanced by the choice to give us other characters only as voices over the phone, occasional still shots, and bodies from the neck down in one short video clip. We are very much inside The Interviewer\u2019s mind, which pays off well when the final revelation comes.<\/p>\n

The film’s pacing is also masterful, <\/em>which could be described as deliberate<\/em> rather than slow<\/em>, efficiently languid, almost. The action escalates logically. Each scene, while subtly drawn out to ratchet up the tension, also develops The Interviewer and moves the story along. There is no lingering for the sole purpose of seeing how long the viewer\u2019s opinion of their own patience can be tested.<\/p>\n

\"A
Photo courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While there are a few moments having to do with the inciting incident that feels forced, overall Monolith<\/em> is an interesting, darkly atmospheric, and unsettling take on the viral madness concept.<\/p>\n

Monolith is available on Blu-ray.<\/p>\n