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Monsterland

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This article is about the 2020 television series. For the fictional island from the Godzilla franchise, see Monsterland.
Monsterland
Genre
Created byMary Laws
Based onNorth American Lake Monsters: Stories
by Nathan Ballingrud
Music byGustavo Santaolalla
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producers
ProducerKat Landsberg
Cinematography
Editors
  • Bill Henry
  • Arturo Sosa
  • Joshua Raymond Lee
Running time42–53 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHulu
ReleaseOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)

Monsterland is an American drama anthology horror streaming television series created by Mary Laws, based upon the short story collection North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud. It consists of eight episodes and premiered on October 2, 2020, on Hulu.[1]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Port Fourchon, LA"Anne SewitskyMary LawsOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
A young single mother who works as a waitress lives a very stressful life, with no money and a child with behavioral issues. A mysterious stranger comes in to town inquiring about a place to stay and finds the local motel with no vacancies. He later shows up at her workplace offering money for a conversation with her, and later at her home offering even more money to stay overnight at her house. Our heroine must weigh a possible reprieve to her cash woes against the obvious danger the man presents.
Cast : Kaitlyn Dever, Jonathan Tucker, Keilly McQuail, Megan Byrne, Matthew James Ballinger
2"Eugene, OR"Kevin PhillipsScott KosarOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
A high school age boy has dropped out of school to take care of his mother after she has a stroke. After seeing an unexplained shadow creature, he makes contact with a group of people online who explain that the shadow creature is the cause of his misfortune, and that they are also victims of the shadow creatures. As he becomes more involved with the group, he must decide how far he is willing to go in participating with their war against the shadow creatures.
Cast : Charlie Tahan, Ben Rappaport, Sherry Ward, Nadia Alexander, Jack DiFalco
3"New Orleans, LA"Craig William MacneillMary LawsOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
After a pre-school age child is briefly separated from his stepfather while they're getting ice cream and his mother finds him wandering in a crowd, he tells her that he was being chased by a monster. Years later, after a party honoring her husband for his work as a medical doctor, she begins to think she should have believed her son years ago after she starts seeing the monster herself.
Cast : Nicole Beharie, Hamish Linklater, Kaitlyn Dever, Marquis Rodriguez, Lauren Bittner, Matty Cardarople, Cheryl Freeman, Anthony Hervey
4"New York, NY"Eagle EgilssonWesley StrickOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
An oil baron, head of a Titan International, is scheduled for a congressional hearing regarding his actions leading up to and lies and inaction in the face of an ecological disaster caused by his company. To generate positive news, he attempts to arrange a photo opportunity at a church but he faces a supernatural case of indigestion after eating a communion wafer, forcing both him and his assistant to grapple with their culpability. Cast : Bill Camp, Michael Hsu Rosen, Tina Benko, Teresa Avia Lim, Tony Crane, Nicole LaLiberté, Julie Dretzin
5"Plainfield, IL"Logan KibensEmily KaczmarekOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
Two law students (played by Taylor Schilling and Roberta Colindrez) connect when sparks fly during a classroom debate. Years later, they're married, living in the suburbs, and raising a daughter together. They have a wild night out to celebrate their anniversary, causing an argument and leading one to make a difficult decision about living with the other's mental illness. But can she live with the consequences of her decision? Cast : Taylor Schilling, Roberta Colindrez, Eva Jette Putrello, Angela Grovey, Laura Jordan
6"Palacios, TX"Nicolas PesceMary LawsOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
Cast : Adria Arjona, Trieu Tran, Tyson Ritter, Alfredo Narciso
7"Iron River, MI"Desiree AkhavanEmily KaczmarekOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
Cast : Kelly Marie Tran, Joy Osmanski, Sarah Catherine Hook, Susan Pourfar, Alice Kremelberg, Rachel Zeiger-Haag, Henry Ayres-Brown
8"Newark, NJ"Babak AnvariMary LawsOctober 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
Cast : Mike Colter, Adepero Oduye, Kaitlyn Dever, Michael Chernus, Vanessa Aspillaga, Scott Nicholson

Production

Development

In May 2019, it was announced Hulu had given the series an eight-episode order, with Mary Laws creating the series and serving as an executive producer based upon the short story North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud, with Babak Anvari and Lucan Toh serving as executive producers with Anvari set to direct an episode of the series, and Annapurna Television attached to produce.[2] The series was released on October 2, 2020.[1]

Casting

In November 2019, it was announced Kaitlyn Dever and Jonathan Tucker had joined the cast of the series, appearing in the first episode.[3] In February 2020, Mike Colter joined the cast of the series.[4] In July 2020, it was announced Kelly Marie Tran and Taylor Schilling had joined the cast of the series.[5] In August 2020, it was announced Nicole Beharie, Adepero Oduye, Roberta Colindrez, Charlie Tahan and Hamish Linklater had joined the cast of the series.[6]

Filming

The series was filmed in Kingston, New York in November 2019.[7][8]

Reception

For the series, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 72% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.71/10. The website's critics' consensus reads, "Though it struggles to find a strong through line, Monsterland's cross-country scares are a perfect showcase for its talented cast and crew."[9] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 63 out of 100 based on five reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Pederson, Erik (August 7, 2020). "'Animaniacs', 'Monsterland' & Other Hulu Shows Set Premiere Dates". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  2. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 24, 2019). "Hulu Orders Horror Anthology Series Based On 'North American Lake Monsters' Stories From Annapurna TV". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  3. ^ Elise Sandberg, Bryn (November 8, 2019). "Kaitlyn Dever and Jonathan Tucker to Star in Hulu Anthology 'Monsterland' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  4. ^ Patten, Dominic (February 3, 2020). "'Evil's Mike Colter Goes Full Horror & Joins Hulu's 'Monsterland' Anthology Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  5. ^ Ford, Rebecca (July 14, 2020). "Kelly Marie Tran Joins Hulu Anthology 'Monsterland' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  6. ^ Hedash, Kara (August 11, 2020). "Everything We Know So Far About Hulu's Monsterland". Screen Rant. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Barry, John W. (November 11, 2019). "Hulu, 'Monsterland' filming in Kingston this week; series stars Kaitlyn Dever". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Barry, John W. (August 10, 2020). "Nicole Kidman, Charlie Kaufman projects, filmed locally, set for premieres on HBO, Netflix". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  9. ^ "Monsterland: Season 1 (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  10. ^ "Monsterland: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
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