''Monster'' is a 2003 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

written and directed by

Patty Jenkins Patricia Lea Jenkins (born July 24, 1971) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. She has directed the feature films ''Monster'' (2003), ''Wonder Woman'' (2017), and ''Wonder Woman 1984'' (2020). For the film ''Monster'', she w ...

in her feature directorial debut. The film is about

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Aileen Wuornos Aileen Carol Wuornos (; born Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer. In 1989–1990, while engaging in street prostitution along highways in Florida, she shot dead and robbed seven of her male clients. W ...

, a street prostitute who murdered seven of her male clients between 1989 and 1990 and was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in Florida in 2002. It stars Charlize Theron (who also produced) as Wuornos, and Christina Ricci as her semi-fictionalized lover, Selby Wall (based on Wuornos's real-life girlfriend, Tyria Moore). ''Monster'' had its world premiere at the

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

on November 16, 2003. On February 8, 2004, it premiered at the

54th Berlin International Film Festival The 54th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5–15 February 2004. The festival opened with out of competition film '' Cold Mountain'' by Anthony Minghella. '' 25 Degrees in Winter'' by Stéphane Vuillet served as the closing ...

, where it competed for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

, while Theron won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

. The film was theatrically released in the United States on December 24, 2003, by

Newmarket Films Newmarket Films, LLC was an American privately owned independent film production and distribution company and a former film distribution subsidiary of Newmarket Capital Group. The company produced such films as ''The Mexican'', ''Cruel Intentions ...

. ''Monster'' received positive reviews from critics and achieved box office success, grossing $64.2 million on an $1.5 million budget. The film received a large number of awards and nominations, in particular for Theron's role, including the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama, the SAG Award for Outstanding Lead Actress, the

Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress is an award given out at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The awards are presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), and was first presented in 1995. There were no official ...

, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, and also the

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

for Best First Feature (Patty Jenkins). Theron's acting has received critical acclaim; film critic Roger Ebert called Theron's role "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema". The film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2003.

Plot

In 1989, after moving from

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

to Daytona Beach, Florida, and on the verge of committing suicide, street prostitute

meets Selby Wall in a

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term '' gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once serv ...

. Although she is initially hostile and declares that she is not

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, Aileen talks to Selby while drinking beer. Selby takes to Aileen almost immediately, as she likes that she is very protective of her. Selby invites Aileen to spend the night with her. The two women return to the house where Selby is staying (temporarily exiled by her parents following the accusation from another girl that Selby tried to kiss her). They later agree to meet at a

roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...

rink, and they kiss for the first time. Aileen and Selby fall in love, but they have nowhere to go, so Selby goes back to her aunt's home. After being brutally

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

d and beaten by a client, Vincent Corey, Aileen kills him in

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

and decides to quit prostitution. She confesses her actions to Selby, who has been angry with her for her failure to support both of them. Aileen decides to find legitimate work, but because of her lack of qualifications and criminal history, prospective employers reject her and are openly hostile. Desperate for money, Aileen returns to prostitution. She robs and kills her johns, each killed in a more brutal way than the last, as she is convinced that they are all trying to rape her. She spares one man out of pity when he admits he has never had sex with a prostitute. She also shows a predisposition to spare another man who, instead of exploiting her, offers help, but finds herself forced to shoot him after he spots her gun. Aileen uses the money she stole from her victims to support herself and Selby. However, Selby reads in the newspapers about the string of murders, and she begins to suspect that Aileen may have committed them. She confronts Aileen, who justifies her actions by claiming she had only been protecting herself. Selby returns to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

on a charter bus. The night of her arrest, Aileen is approached at the

biker bar A biker bar is a bar that is frequented by motorcyclists (bikers). Some are owned or managed by people who are friendly toward motorcyclists.

she frequents by two strangers, who unbeknownst to her are

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

s. Thomas, whom Aileen always referred to as the only friend she had, infers the men's intentions and offers to drive her off. Aileen declines, no longer trusting herself with the well-being of anyone dear to her. The two men eventually lure Aileen out of the bar and she is promptly arrested by the police. Aileen speaks to Selby one last time while in jail. Selby reveals some incriminating information over the telephone and Aileen realizes that the police are listening in. To protect Selby, Aileen admits that she committed the murders alone. During Aileen's trial, Selby testifies against her, with Aileen's loving consent. Aileen is convicted of the murders and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. On October 9, 2002, Aileen is executed by lethal injection.

Cast

Music

Soundtrack

In 2004, BT released an official

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to the film. Included with the release is a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

featuring all fifteen original cues, and an additional nine cues that would not fit on the CD, as well as an interview with BT and Patty Jenkins, and remix files for "Ferris Wheel". All music is composed by BT. *1. "Childhood Montage" *2. "Girls Kiss" *3. "The Bus Stop" *4. "Turning Tricks" *5. "First Kill" *6. "Job Hunt" *7. "Bad Cop" *8. "'Call Me Daddy' Killing" *9. "I Don't Like It Rough" *10. "Ferris Wheel (Love Theme)" *11. "Ditch the Car" *12. "Madman Speech" *13. "Cop Killing" *14. "News on TV" *15. "Courtroom"

Songs

Songs which appeared in the film, but not on the official soundtrack: * "

Don't Stop Believin' "Don't Stop Believin' is a song by American rock band Journey. It was released in October 1981 as the second single from the group's seventh studio album, ''Escape'' (1981), released through Columbia Records. "Don't Stop Believin'" shares writ ...

" –

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

* " Where Do I Begin" –

The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat gen ...

* " Crimson and Clover" –

Tommy James & The Shondells Tommy James and the Shondells are an American pop rock/ psychedelic rock band, formed in Niles, Michigan, in 1964. They had two No. 1 singles in the U.S. – " Hanky Panky" (July 1966, their only RIAA Certified Gold record) and " Crimson and C ...

* " All She Wants Is" – Duran Duran * " Space Age Love Song" –

A Flock of Seagulls A Flock of Seagulls are an English new wave band formed in Liverpool in 1979. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds, hit the peak of their chart success in the early 1980s. The ...

* " Shake Your Groove Thing" –

Peaches & Herb Peaches & Herb is an American vocal duo. Herb Fame (born October 1, 1941) has remained a constant as "Herb" since the duo was created in 1966; seven different women have filled the role of "Peaches", most notably Francine Edna "Peaches" Hurd B ...

* " Tide Is High" – Blondie * " What You Need" – INXS * " Sugar and Spice" –

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...

* "Secret Crush on You" – Pete Surdoval, Al Gross * "Flirtin' With Disaster" –

Molly Hatchet Molly Hatchet is an American rock band formed in 1971 by guitarist Dave Hlubek in Jacksonville, Florida. They were a popular band during the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s among the southern rock and hard rock communities. The band released ...

* " Keep On Loving You" – REO Speedwagon * "Crazy Girl" – Molly Pasutti * " Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts * "A Road Runner: Road Runner's 'G' Jam" – Humble Pie * "Sweet Peace and Time" – Humble Pie

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a rating of 81%, based on 191 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Charlize Theron gives a searing, deglamorized performance as real life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in ''Monster'', an intense, disquieting portrait of a profoundly damaged soul." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 40 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''Monster'' received generally positive reviews from critics; most gave overwhelmingly high praise to Theron's performance as a mentally unstable woman – Wuornos had antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. For the role, Theron gained , shaved her eyebrows, and wore

prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

teeth. Critics called her performance, and her makeup, a "transformation". Film critic Roger Ebert named ''Monster'' ″the best film of the year″, gave it four stars out of four, and noted that Theron's role is "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema": In 2009, Ebert named it the third-best film of the decade. Ricci's performance also drew some praise, but was not without criticism. In his review for the film, Ebert praised her performance, stating "Christina Ricci finds the right note for Selby Wall – so correct some critics have mistaken it for bad acting, when in fact it is sublime acting in its portrayal of a bad actor. She plays Selby as clueless, dim, in over her head, picking up cues from moment to moment, cobbling her behavior out of notions borrowed from bad movies, old songs, and barroom romances". However, several people who knew Wuornos criticized the movie for portraying her as a victim and her victims as villains.

In culture

In 2005, a reference to ''Monster'' appeared in the series ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

''. Charlize Theron plays the role of Rita in the series, and in the episode ″ The Ocean Walker″, a frame from ''Monster'' appears on the screen with the clarification that this is a photo of Rita a year ago before the plastic surgery. In 2014, on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', Charlize Theron made a self-reference to her role of Aileen Wuornos. In the sketch ''Pet Rescue Commercial'',

Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a cas ...

asked her to play a cat lady, whose image and behavior are based on Wuornos from ''Monster''. In 2018, comedian Willam released his

third album ''Third Album'' is the third studio album released by the Jackson 5 on Motown Records, and the group's second LP released in 1970, on September 18. ''Third Album'' featured the group's fourth consecutive No. 1 single on the US pop charts, " I' ...

with the song "Aileen" and the music video for the song, which are dedicated to Wuornos and this film.

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monster 2000s English-language films 2003 films 2003 biographical drama films Biographical films about serial killers 2003 drama films Drama films based on actual events 2003 crime drama films 2003 crime thriller films Crime films based on actual events 2003 romantic drama films 2003 thriller drama films 2003 independent films 2003 directorial debut films 2000s serial killer films 2003 LGBT-related films 2000s American films 2000s female buddy films American biographical drama films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American independent films American serial killer films American LGBT-related films American films about revenge American female buddy films Cultural depictions of Aileen Wuornos Films about Aileen Wuornos Films about prostitution in the United States Films about rape in the United States American rape and revenge films Films about capital punishment Girls with guns films Women and death Lesbian-related films LGBT-related drama films LGBT-related romantic drama films LGBT-related films based on actual events LGBT-related buddy films Films directed by Patty Jenkins Films with screenplays by Patty Jenkins Films produced by Charlize Theron Films produced by Donald Kushner Films scored by BT (musician) Films shot in Florida Films set in Florida Films set in 1989 Films set in the 1990s Newmarket films Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe-winning performance Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance Biographical films about LGBT people Crimes against sex workers in fiction