Love and Monsters

Wearing its heart resolutely on its sleeve, this sweet-natured creature feature has a blast with its impressive parade of monsters and boasts an appealing lead in The Maze Runner's Dylan O'Brien. In a world devastated by the chemical debris left behind by an asteroid, human survivors have gone underground to escape the horrifically mutated wildlife. Cooped up in a bunker with a load of couples, Joel (O'Brien) is sick of being the odd one out and decides to trek through the wilderness to reunite with his one-time love (Jessica Henwick). Along the way, he faces certain death by various super-mutants, but finds friendship in the form of survivalists Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt, a robot and an adorable dog. O'Brien is a likeable hero, but the creatures are the clear standouts in this death match. Giant centipedes, a massive toad, and worm-monsters dubbed "Sand-Gobblers" are all brought spectacularly to life, and there are nods to Gareth Edwards's Monsters (2010) and TV's The Walking Dead in style and story. It doesn't break the mould, but Love and Monsters is a fun, fast-moving genre flick with plenty of gooey charm.