Monster
Rent & Buy
In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.
What critics thought
Charlize Theron's physical and psychological transformation into Aileen Wuornos dominated the conversation, with most critics treating her performance as something close to a once-in-a-generation event. Christina Ricci's supporting work was more divisive — some saw it as deliberately, brilliantly blank, while others mistook that blankness for weakness. Off-screen, people who knew Wuornos pushed back against the film's framing of her as a victim and her victims as villains.
“Observe the way Theron controls her eyes in the film; there is not a flicker of inattention, as she urgently communicates what she is feeling and thinking [...] Aileen's body language is frightening and fascinating. She doesn't know how to occupy her body.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Accolades
Genres
Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
Patty JenkinsDirector
Charlize TheronAileen Wuornos
Christina RicciSelby Wall
Bruce DernThomas
Lee TergesenVincent Corey
Annie CorleyDonna
Pruitt Taylor VinceGene / Stuttering "John"
Marco St. JohnEvan / Undercover "John"
Marc MacaulayWill / Daddy "John"
Scott WilsonHorton / Last "John"
Rus BlackwellCop
Tim WareChuck
Stephan JonesLawyer
BTComposerMonster
In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.
What critics thought
Charlize Theron's physical and psychological transformation into Aileen Wuornos dominated the conversation, with most critics treating her performance as something close to a once-in-a-generation event. Christina Ricci's supporting work was more divisive — some saw it as deliberately, brilliantly blank, while others mistook that blankness for weakness. Off-screen, people who knew Wuornos pushed back against the film's framing of her as a victim and her victims as villains.
“Observe the way Theron controls her eyes in the film; there is not a flicker of inattention, as she urgently communicates what she is feeling and thinking [...] Aileen's body language is frightening and fascinating. She doesn't know how to occupy her body.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Accolades
Genres
Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
Patty JenkinsDirectorCharlize TheronAileen WuornosChristina RicciSelby WallBruce DernThomasLee TergesenVincent CoreyAnnie CorleyDonnaPruitt Taylor VinceGene / Stuttering "John"Marco St. JohnEvan / Undercover "John"Marc MacaulayWill / Daddy "John"Scott WilsonHorton / Last "John"Rus BlackwellCopTim WareChuckStephan JonesLawyerBTComposerRent & Buy