“It’s In You.” Izzy Lee’s ‘My Monster’ (2018)

The holidays can be stressful enough, but when you haven’t slept in a week because you keep seeing a creep at your window, and your partner is a doofus that thinks you should just medicate your way through the happiest time of the year, you might start to feel abandoned in your own home.

Izzy Lee‘s My Monster debuted at the Boston Underground Film Festival in March and has been doing well on the festival circuit since. Izzy’s previous works include the critically acclaimed Rites of Vengeance, Innsmouth, and For A Good Time Call, among others. She’s mastered the art of telling a big, satisfying story in just a few minutes.

While My Monster isn’t Izzy’s first film to feature a monster of some kind, it does show more of her sense of humor than we’ve seen since A Favor. Casting Brea Grant (Beyond the Gates) as the protagonist was a great choice, because she has a natural likability and seems effortlessly funny (check out her podcast, Reading Glasses, which she co-hosts with Mallory O’Meara). Adam Egypt Mortimer (Some Kind of Hate) does the alpha male dude-bro really well. In their brief interaction, Izzy tells us so much we need to know about their relationship. Steve Johansen plays the monster and the make up effects look really good.

“I went weird and a little funny,” says Izzy about her first short shot in L.A., which is the least you could say about a young woman dealing with an inter-dimensional creature out for blood and snuggle time. My Monster is just one more thing that shows Izzy Lee’s mastery of diverse types of storytelling.

I don’t know how much more proof Hollywood needs to green light her on a feature. A musical perhaps? I think a perfect fit for her would to be a part of Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone reboot. Wherever she goes next, one thing is for sure, Izzy is amassing a unique body of work that zigs when you except it to zag. After her last film, Rites of Vengeance, a film like My Monster is the last thing I expected and I love that.