Love and Monsters has surprised critics by quickly becoming one of the breakout hits of the year after its straight-to-home video-on-demand release earlier this month. I’ve taken quite a liking to the film myself, as you can hear me gush about in a recent podcast.
But I wanted to go further and dig a little deeper into some aspects of the movie that most people might not realize. So I present to you my top five list of things you may not know about Love and Monsters.
5. The original title was going to be “Monster Problems“
Love and Monsters seems like such a better title because it tells you the exact formula for the movie: one part love, one part monsters. But we certainly dodged a bullet because the previous name of Monster Problems sounds more like a wacky film starring Seth Rogan and Owen Wilson where they need to get an Pixar-animated monster back to his family before he’s discovered and all kinds of craziness ensues! I mean, it’s cool if you’re into that…
4. The set designer is from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies
The bunker scenes in Love and Monsters are fantastic, mostly in part to set designer Dan Hennah, who won an Oscar for his set design on The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
3. Aimee (Jessica Henwick) was on three seasons of Game of Thrones
If Aimee looks familiar to you, it might be because she played the part of Nymeria Sand on Game of Thrones. Nymeria was one of the bastard daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell (hence the surname Sand), but most importantly, she was one of the three Sand Snakes — yes, the one with the whip!
2. Actor Dylan O’Brien is still affected by a horrible stunt-gone-wrong from his time on Maze Runner
In 2016, on the set of Maze Runner, O’Brien was hit by a stunt vehicle that resulted in a “concussion, facial fracture and lacerations.” The injuries were serious enough to delay filming for several weeks, but Dylan says he’s learned from that ordeal. “A lot of the good things that came out of that horrible experience is that, ever since and going forward, I will always be hypervigilant and vet everything before I’m put into a rig,” he told Hollywood Reporter.
1. Joel’s shirt is an homage to the video game The Last of Us
In a recent interview with Decider, director Michael Matthews revealed what he calls an Easter egg in the film. Matthews cites 2013’s The Last of Us as a major influence for the movie, so he decided to make main character Joel’s t-shirt similar to Ellie’s in the game. “He’s just got kind of a sunset shirt, and the main, young girl character in Last of Us has something similar on her shirt.” It’s probably also not a coincidence that the male main character in The Last of Us is also named Joel.
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