‘The Monster’
Indie darling Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks) stars in this terrifying film from writer/director Bryan Bertino, best known for his nightmare-inducing home invasion masterpiece The Strangers. Kazan is an alcoholic mess of a mother who is about to lose custody of her daughter, played by Ella Ballentine —a 15-year-old actress who shows some serious chops here— when their car crashes late at night in a deserted stretch of wilderness. Kazan’s character is, arguably, a monster in her own right, but suffice to say, there is another monster lurking in the darkness that poses a more immediate threat to this family’s well-being.