There’s nothing exactly wrong with making a movie like Monster Summer per se. But I really fail to see the point of a “Stranger Things” knockoff in this day and age. Sure, the director might argue that this one is set in the late nineties (instead of the eighties like the Netflix show), but the similarities are unmistakable, both the vibe and plot wise. Instead of upside-down demogorgon, this one simply put witchcraft as the main opponent. As a children’s film, Monster Summer is a decent watch, but the lack of effort is visible. There are big names like Lorraine Bracco and the legendary Mel Gibson in the cast, which is quite baffling given their roles could have been played by anyone. Let us get on with the witch hunt now, pun intended.
Spoilers Ahead
What is the movie about?
A teenager, frightened, runs from something until he is caught by whatever it is (we don’t get to see). Hours later, the police find him, but he looks visibly traumatized, almost like he has been kissed by a dementor. Now to the main story: young Noah aspires to be a journalist, following in the footsteps of his late father. He lives with his mother and sister in Martha’s Vineyard. Noah’s mother runs a local inn, where this mysterious woman, Mrs. Halverson arrives to book a room for the whole summer. Noah’s quest for a good story is initially unsuccessful, as local gazette owner Robert doesn’t want to publish his crime stories as they are too morbid for a town that is practically devoid of any crime. So Noah and his friends—Ben, Eugene, and Sammy—break into the house of a local reclusive man, Gene Carruthers, who apparently killed his wife and daughter and buried them under his house. Obviously that’s just baseless rumors, as you soon realize Gene is just a grumpy old man who is living in exile thanks to a big tragedy—his son was kidnapped years ago, and that took a toll on his marriage. Gene soon becomes friends with Noah though, most likely because he’s a lonely man and the boy does come off as a good kid who’s eager to learn his way around life.
Once the character dynamics are established, the central mystery kicks in. While taking a night swim around the local bridge, Ben and his friend Ellie (Noah has a crush on her, but it absolutely doesn’t affect the story) see a mysterious figure jumping in the water. They soon see a flash of light that pulls him under the water while she escapes. Ben returns, but he’s not himself anymore, just like what happened to the boy we saw in the beginning. Noah and Gene start looking into the matter; the kid lands on the witch theory pretty fast, while the old man is skeptical. Considering Gene used to be a detective, it only makes sense. Soon, another kid, Kevin, ends up in the same condition as Ben, when he gets lured by a pretty girl (obviously the witch) during a party at a nearby island. When Gene and Noah investigate, they find a broomstick and another piece of black cloth—just like the kind Mrs. Halverson wears.
Is Mrs. Halverson a witch?
The narrative does everything it can to make Noah (and the audience) suspicious about Mrs. Halverson, the only new face in the town. She wears black robes just like witches, does mysterious chants inside her room that Noah overhears, and even happens to have witchy drawings and books lying around her room – which Noah discovers by sneaking into the room of course. But as always, it is never the person you suspect and always has to be something else. Noah is too hasty to call out on Mrs Halverson, who turns out to be a children’s writer. All she wants is to find some ideas for her new book. With Noah’s shenanigans, she understandably decides to leave the inn. He feels guilty about his mother losing out on the business because of him, but nothing can be done after all (other than catching the witch, of course).
Who is the witch?
It is always someone you least expect; that can either be a character you love or someone you don’t notice. Given Monster Summer doesn’t have a strong narrative to get you invested in a character, going with a minor one like the random grumpy baseball umpire at school does make sense. And for what it’s worth, I didn’t see that coming. Proving himself to be a really smart kid, Noah figures it out after getting chased by the witch and noticing its shoe was covered with red soil—exactly the kind that can be seen on the field. His suspicion further grows after seeing a fresh burn mark on the umpire’s hand, which has to be the result of the mine explosion on the island when Kevin was attacked. Of course, all this could very well be circumstantial, so for a proper confirmation, Noah, Eugene, and Sammy break into the umpire’s house. They can’t call Gene for help as he has gone to see this kid, Ronnie, who lives in another town and just happens to be the first kid who was taken by the witch and returned. Yeah, it’s the kid we saw in the beginning, and as it turns out, Ronnie was as smart as Noah, given he also figured out what was going on. Unfortunately, he failed to escape and had to pay the price.
Does Gene save Noah from the witch?
Upon realizing who is behind all the children’s abduction and soul-feeding (yeah, that’s exactly what the witch is doing), Gene rushes back to Martha’s Vineyard. Noah might be smart enough to identify the witch, but he does need Gene’s help to take care of the monster. It was inevitable for Noah and his friends to get caught by it. Things would have turned really tragic if Gene hadn’t come back in time, but this is not the kind of movie that would do that to you. So, Gene returns and takes care of the witch with silver bullets. I thought it was rather funny when the umpire/witch talked about how difficult it is for old witches to survive in this world, as they have to constantly move from town to town for food (sadly, that happens to be little kids). The soul eating is basically like a bit of an energy boost for them to keep them going. Anyway, Monster Summer is not at all about the difficulties of living as a witch (and nor shouldn’t it be), and it expectedly ends on a happy note. All the kids who lost their souls to the witch get back to normal. It takes a bit more time for Ben to become his old self and hit the ball again, but when he finally does it, there’s merriment all around. Gene also goes to see his wife in the movie’s final scene. It is not revealed whether he lost his son to the witch/umpire, though. It is very possible that something else happened, but we can’t rule out the witch angle, of course.
