User reviews

After a career ending misjudgement, a Journalist uncovers a vague conspiracy theory through her podcast, as she digs deeper, she realises she's closer to the conspiracy than she first realised.

One of those films that you could easily dismiss as mehh, but if you stick with it, I think you may get something out of it. It held my attention all the way through.

Tagged as a horror, absolutely not, in no way, shape or form does this have a single scare, it's more a mystery, with sci fi undertones, you'll be kept intrigued enough, to want to hear the conclusion.

The twist at the end of the film was the highlight, and definitely the most unsettling sequence.

A very competent performance from Lily Sullivan, who carries the film pretty much single handedly.

7/10.

This is one of those movies that is surprisingly well done for a miniscule budget and, basically, one charachter on screen.

We have a tendency, these days, to watch movies with other things going on around us, this is not that kind of movie.

It would be great in a cinema but I doubt it will get a release there. Instead, be prepared to set up the room with no distractions, lower the lights and get into it. Remember Blair Witch, you need to be immersed.

If you do that then you will find a good story, well acted, some good clues but not much truly revealed, too early, and a pretty reasonable ending that ties it all together.

Whilst it is scifi, that is all in the concept rather than the action so its closer to a thriller than anything else.

With the cinematography, it was all too mono and dark. I guess they were trying to set a mood but it was the same throughout with no light and shade, just grey. This didn't suit the surroundings of a house with massive windows, in the open, and lost the chance to convey any passing of time from day to night and vice versa. With only one charachter for 90 minutes, it needed something more to vary the pace so they could have done a hell of a lot better with that and it would have driven the story.

If nothing else, I just love the house that the movie is set in.

With all that said, on the whole, it is well worth watching and deserving of a decent rating if it is watched as a movie should be. Its definitely not a 10 but is worth and hour and half of your life.

Can I honestly urge you to put aside an hour and a half of your life to watch this? No, I don't think so. There's nothing wrong with this film. I am old, and remember radio plays (honest, they were entertaining, and tested one's imagination) and this feels like one of those. There's nothing 'cinematic' about it. It has one idea, and does it quite well. Should you be stuck inside on a rainy day and you've done all your chores, go ahead. You won't regret it. But going for a walk, tidying your house, finishing those jobs are more important.

Well acted, well presented, nicely structured. A good ending (if you've been paying attention to the hints).

This is clearly not going to be for everyone. It's slow, gripping, story telling and it's not a horror film.

The whole film revolves around one central character and her efforts to revitalise her journalism career via a podcast on unsolved mysteries. It's excellently written and beautifully shot, featuring clever moments to draw you in.

If you want gore or adrenaline, this is not for you. It's an intriguing story with a satisfying climax that is another classic for the Aussie film industry.

The whole cinematic scope is thought well through and the screenplay is really tight - the film just works.

If you like a slow burn, a little sci-fi and some good story development, this is worth sitting down and watching.

Monolith is a tricky one, an eerie one location thriller that tries a pretty ballsy bait and switch manoeuvre with its ending that I'm not altogether sure about being effective or not. A semi-famous radio journalist (Lily Sullivan) from a wealthy family sits alone in a fancy secluded manor, doing interviews over the phone for her podcast that probes into various obscure conspiracy theories. Her latest fixation is on some shred of evidence over the years that objects of alien origin have somehow made their way into human households, and she tries to track down accounts that back this up. What she really finds is some half forgotten secret closer to home that might even relate to her own past and this is where the film attempts a prompt and jarring turn right into left field that, although fascinating, grounds what could have been a spooky extraterrestrial horror experience into something very, how should I put it, socioeconomic and decidedly "of this world." It's a shame because I felt like the former option would have made for the better, stronger film. In any case it's still creepy, atmospheric, well acted and makes good use of its single location trappings.

Monolith REALLY could have been something other than what it turned out to be. Despite only ever having one actor on the screen (all others only did voice roles) it engaged me and intrigue me but around halfway through the film it starts to unravel from a sci-fi/thriller into predictable and unimaginative plot lines that quickly send things sharply downhill resulting in what ended as an entirely underwhelming film.

It can't seem to decide if it wants to be about aliens or about mental illness as neither is made clear in any way shape or form leaving the conclusion entirely up to the viewer.

If I wanted to spend the majority of 90 minutes watching someone talk over the phone I should have just watched "the guilty" 2018 or 2021.

4/10 Thriller 4/10 Mystery 2/10 Sci-fi

Absolutely nothing special here. Save yourself the time despite the solid acting from the aussie actress.

Here's The 4K Lowedown on "Monolith" (R - 2022 - VOD)

Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi

My Score: 6.8 Cast=5 Acting=8 Trailer=7 Ending=5 Story=8 Visual=6 Direct=8 Sound=7 Genre=5 Sub-genre=9

A headstrong journalist whose investigative podcast uncovers a strange artifact, an alien conspiracy, and the lies at the heart of her own story.

"You have to stop what you're doing...you are in danger." What starts out slow begins to build...in intensity and suspense. When the sci-fi stuff started to kick in, I was fully on board...I couldn't wait for the ending. I think this just went a little too long and that caused the ending to be a little flat. This is available to rent on Prime for 3.99 and I feel this is worth a watch. I'll leave it up to you if you want to rent it or wait for it to appear on a streaming service.

Despite its intriguing premise and initial promise, "Monolith" ultimately fails to deliver a cohesive and engaging cinematic experience. The film stars Lily Sullivan as a disgraced journalist attempting to redeem her career by investigating a mysterious object, the titular "monolith."

While the film begins with a promising setup, it quickly devolves into a predictable series of tropes and clichés. The character development of Lily Sullivan's journalist is superficial and lacks depth, making it difficult for viewers to truly empathize with her struggles. As she dives into the world of conspiracies and questionable evidence, her motivations and ethical considerations remain disappointingly unexplored.

The pacing of "Monolith" is another area where the film falters. The build-up to the central mystery surrounding the black brick is drawn out and uninspired, while the climax of the story feels rushed and unsatisfying. Furthermore, the film's overreliance on clichéd conspiracy theories detracts from the potential novelty of its central premise. Instead of delving into the possible implications and ramifications of the black bricks, "Monolith" focuses on sensationalism, ultimately undermining the story's credibility.

Visually, the film offers some striking shots and engaging cinematography, but these moments are not enough to save it from its flawed narrative. The editing and pacing also contribute to the film's disjointed feel, making it difficult for the audience to become fully immersed in the story.

The off-screen supporting cast, while talented, is given little to work with in terms of character development or meaningful dialogue. The film's inability to flesh out its secondary characters leaves the audience with a shallow understanding of the world in which the story unfolds.

"Monolith" squanders a compelling premise with weak character development, disjointed pacing, and an overemphasis on conspiracy theory clichés. While there are moments of visual brilliance and Lily Sullivan's performance is commendable, the film ultimately fails to deliver a satisfying and cohesive narrative. Fans of the thriller genre may find some entertainment value in "Monolith," but the film will likely leave most viewers wanting more substance and depth.

Monolith maintains more of a single setting and person concept as it uncovers the mystery behind random blocks of black stone that just appear in people's lives.

The main character is a disgraced journalist that has moved to a new home that is more isolated to avoid the public. She is tasked with creating a new "mystery pod cast" and begins with these blocks.

As the film progresses, little details from talking with others who have found these blocks creates more uncertainty regarding what they are, why they are, and what do they do.

Monolith starts with a realistic focus on the main character and her stress from recent events of her problematic journalism. The film unfolds slowly around the bits of information and this leads us wanting to know more, but in this situation, there isn't clearer information.

If you are expecting tradition film plotting, don't watch this. If you want to experience the uncertainty and the mystery without needing an answer to resolve the tension, Monolith creates this atmosphere and suspense. Lily Sullivan as the lead character and only person on screen is captivating and holds this film with a tight grip even as she loses hold on her reality.

Monolith borrows the core idea of Tony Burgess's novel Pontypool Changes Everything - as filtered and focused through the film adaptation, Pontypool (which, I would argue is better than the novel, which is needlessly overwritten and self-consciously haphazard) -and takes it in a very different direction. To be more specific about Monolith's story beyond what you've read in Letterboxd or IMDb plot summaries would spoil things. I've read some reviews that don't seem to like the ending, but I think these viewers have missed the point of the movie. It is heavily thematic, rooted in the sins of the past, whether terrible things thought or terrible things done, and the suppression of the related guilt. In one sense, everything in Monolith is overtly symbolic in how it relates to our world outside of the movie; but, within the movie's own world, there is no symbolism and suppressed guilt is literalized, shockingly so in at least one scene, in which a quotation from The Merchant of Venice mentioned at the beginning - "The truth will out" - is physically manifested. In the movie's world each person has their own hidden language - hidden even from the individual them self, or maybe hidden by them.

Well, I am being pretty opaque to avoid spoilers. The movie makes perfect sense within the above context and turns out to be very clever. About 2/3 of the way through I thought the movie was losing itself in a subplot, but no, everything that happens is integral to the story and themes, and essential to where the story ends up. Also impressive is the sustained sense of mystery and suspense, given that there is only one setting and that only one character appears outside of some very brief video snippets, texts, emails, and phone calls. The lead actress has to carry 90% of the movie.

Monolith is an impressive movie. It isn't as opaque or inconclusive has some viewers have said. Being very easy to miss amid the thousands of direct to streaming movies that drop each year, Monolith is worth seeking out for fans of sci-fi drama / suspense. It would make a great double feature with Pontypool.

Again, this goes to show you don't need huge budgets to create good sci-fi. Absolute props to Lily Sullivan who's crushing it carrying the whole thing as a one-woman show. Now you have to know before you go in that it is extremely slow paced sci-fi with little to no special effects, and everything hinges on the atmosphere, closer to a psychological thriller in that way. In fact I find the poster for the movie a tad misleading. While it kept me engaged for the vast majority of the time, there are some pacing problems in certain places so that was unfortunate.

But overall it's definitely something I would recommend for people who can appreciate "non-flashy sci-fi".

This started out great, for at least the first 30-40 min - a great unknown world to most of us about podcasting and unsolved mysteries. Etc.

The idea of people calling in and talking about a black mystery brick that could be alien with powers is a great high concept. Unfortunately, the film struggles to outlay a clear story and real theme instead it jumps around with the editing and doesn't stay on track.

It could have really helped to show more of the core subject and delve deeper into the mystery and visualize that.

This had the potential to be something really great that could even compete with American films.

Lilly Sullivan is FANTASTIC in the role of podcaster, and she really sells it.

The film is shot fantastically, and the music is great as well as the look of the film.

The other characters (voices) due to low budget are somewhat good - but after a while NOT seeing them becomes annoying and frustrating.

Some of the special effects are great and the locations too.

Better story development and character development would have given this film so much more.

By the time you get to the end - with a. Really cool revelation - It feels too late and is lost.

To the Director remember that every scene should move the story forward, sometimes too much focus on reminding the audience of the past conversations becomes stale and repetitive.

The back-story should have been so much more compelling and emotive, but something was missing.

Overall, well done for an Aussie film.

A strong willed, but seemingly on the way out journalist runs a podcast covering unsolved mysteries from her parents' lavish, isolated home. When she receives an anonymous email she follows it up and is told of a strange black brick that had altered the life of an ex maid. Investigating further she discovers an art dealer who has acquired a few of the bricks and had them scanned - he sends the results to the journalist. As the investigation progresses further and more people contact her, she begins to realise that she may in fact be directly involved in the mystery herself.

A tense and interesting low budget independent sci-fi thriller filmed entirely in the house and with just one actor seen, the unnamed journalist, played convincingly by Lily Sullivan. The investigative element involving interviewing various affected characters over the phone is well done and is actually the best part, as the possible ways in which the brick might be affecting people slowly emerges leading in turn to how the mystery might be directly involving the journalist. It is sci-fi and inevitably it brings the threads together with a bit of out there weirdness, but it's well enough handled and overall this is a fascinating and tense 94 minutes.

This film is evocative of the highly atmospheric podcasts I listened to in the early 2010s. Same setups: a journalist seeking the truth gets involved in a strange sci-fi conspiracy documented episodically, it's played as if it's real life. For that, I really enjoyed this film. The atmosphere was great and I really felt intense dread as the movie played on. The main, and only on-screen, actress did phenomenal with the role I didn't mind the length either, it's just the type of low budget film that can, and should, work. But the ending is very quick and falls flat. I dunno, it leaves me feeling wishy-wash about the experience.

That's pretty much it. Acting is ok, but this story would have played out better on an audiobook... because that is basically what it was. Paid full price for this movie and both me and my girlfriend found our selvess robbed after the movie. Was not only not worth the money, but wouldn't have been worth the time of we saw it for free either.

Have 250 charachters left to write, so i will fill the rest of it with the same kind of empty substance that this movie contained... nothing but garbage that is. Hope i managed to save some elses time and money on this one.

If not, we certainly feel with you.

It's hard to find a movie that actually scares me. This one was doing a good job of creeping me out, and then the final act happened, and it made no sense whatsoever. Perhaps I'm just too stupid to figure out what the ending meant, but I saw no link between it and what happened to anyone else who claimed to have received a brick in the story.

I commend Ms. Sullivan for her excellent performance regardless, though I do wonder why she had an English accent while her father had an Australian one, or maybe I'm just not as good with accents as I think I am.

Like many movies of this genre, it seems like the writer can't figure out a sensible ending, so he/she writes something that tries to fool us into thinking we're the ones with the problem if we can't figure it out. Because of the ending, I wouldn't recommend this, as that completely ruined the movie for me.

Psychological thriller, but slow and sustained. I'm no movie pro critic or writer, but I was looking for something different and came across this film. It fit my mood at the time. No action, but mental/cerebral testing. Did make me wonder if there are people out there with some kind of mental deficiency similar to the one she may have been having in this film. Then again, maybe not. Either way, I liked it.

I also liked that it was an Australian film, too. Always on the look out for foreign films. Enjoyed it. On occasion, you could tell where this movie was going, along with the ending; was not surprising, but again, not disappointed.

This movie is not about a black brick from space. It's about how disease, lies and conspiracies spread through social media. It's about how humans interact with new technology without knowing anything about it. It's about curiosity and how it can lead you down the rabbitholes and what it does to you. This movie is social media critical and it tells you to get your information from reliable sources or atleast verify what you read on social media, before spreading participating in the enshittification of the internet.

I thought this was ab original movie, something I haven't seen before and it made sence to me. It could have been creapier though.

Is it a classic? Well, no. But it's a solid slow burner thriller that is well-acted, decently paced with a few gripping moments, OK writing (which as of 2025 is the kind of praise that Hollywood can only dream of) and a satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed these 90 minutes.

320 characters to go. Great. OK, I'll take the time to celebrate indie filmmaking. I wish we had more low budget films like Monolith. You could make 200 of these for the price of the umpteenth, generic, superhero, copycat snoozefest. There's still creativity, innovation and artistry in film; we just need to dare to give these smaller movies a shot.