Taglines: All you have to do is listen.
Monolith movie storyline. Through the clever containment of a single location and only one on-screen character, Monolith surveils disgraced journalist (rising star Lily Sullivan) as she turns to podcasting to salvage her career, before uncovering a strange artefact that she believes is evidence of an alien conspiracy. The teasing mystery is a product of the ground-breaking Film Lab: New Voices initiative, and uses its creative restraint to compelling advantage.
Monolith is a 2022 Australian science-fiction thriller film directed by Matt Vesely from a script written by Lucy Campbell, and produced by Bettina Hamilton. Described as high-concept science fiction, it stars Lily Sullivan, the only on-screen actor in the film, as a journalist uncovering a mystery. The film premiered in Australia on October 27, 2022 at the Adelaide Film Festival, and internationally at SXSW in March 2023.
About the Film
The central character (known only as The Interviewer) is a disgraced journalist who, depressed and alone in her parents’ large home while they are away, starts podcasting about unsolved mysteries in the hopes of reviving her career. She invites listeners to phone in with their stories. A story begins to build around a strange black brick, first reported by a maid named Floramae, and followed by many others who report the mysterious appearance of a similar object in their lives.
The story is simple, but anxiety and tension is built further with the introduction of a German art collector, Klaus, who has a collection of the bricks, and has had them scanned and analysed. The Interviewer’s mental health declines as the story proceeds, and after she comes to the startling realisation that she herself is involved in the backstory of one of the bricks, the final scenes leave their interpretation open to the audience.
Monolith (2022)
Directed by: Matt Vesely
Starring: Lily Sullivan, Erik Thomson, Kate Box, Terence Crawford, Damon Herriman, Ling Cooper Tang, Ansuya Nathan, Matt Crook, Rashidi Edward, Brigid Zengeni, Belle Kalendra-Harding
Screenplay by: Lucy Campbell
Production Design by: Jonah Booth-Remmers
Cinematography by: Michael Tessari
Film Editing by: Tania Nehme
Costume Design by: Renate Henschke
Art Direction by: Ben Conroy, Mark DAngelo
Music by: Benjamin Speed
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Distributed by: Well Go USA Entertainment
Release Date: February 16, 2024
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