SNAPSHOT
In a world where humans live alongside monsters, Martha finds herself stuck with a major identity crisis. (synopsis via Laughing Squid)
There is something intoxicatingly powerful about the freedom to be completely and utterly yourself.
I don’t mean in some kind of antisocial, douchebag kind of way; rather, being unapologetically who you are and not kowtowing to some peoples’ smallminded ideas and prejudices.
It took me years to learn that lesson and throw off the expectations of some many people who thought a Baptist minister’s son should talk, act and think a certain way but Martha the Monster, played by Rose Byrne, learns that lesson in a day or two after certain traumatic events – all too common in a bigoted society where monsters are regualrly treated as the Other and can’t drink in certain bars or take seats on buses – prompt a long-overdue rethink about who she is and how she shouldn’t be embarrassed of who she is.
Apart from being quirky and sweet, Martha the Monster, written and Directed by Christopher Weekes, and also starring Byrnes’ partner Bobby Canavale, is incredibly insightful, brave and unapologetically forthright about the cruelty and absurdity of prejudice and the power that comes from saying enough is enough.
It’s a remarkably moving piece of storytelling that accomplishes so much in just 15 minutes.
Watch it and you’ll find yourself enthralled and inspired to take a stand for who you are and who you want to be and that is always a good thing.