Trapped in the mountains with his mother, a little boy struggles to adjust to his new surroundings and overcome his fear of being hunted down.

When we become adults, we realize that our childhood monsters are nothing compared to the ones we meet in the flesh.

In Mommy’s Little Monster (2019), a mother takes her son away to a secluded cabin in the woods hoping that whatever or whoever is hunting them doesn’t follow their trail. But, as usual, evil catches up and everything goes to hell. Except that this time a mother will do anything for their children.

The metaphor, if it could be called that, is very clear; parents are facing human monsters as children face their deepest fears. In this case, the mother is running away from an abusive husband while the son is scared of an imaginary big bad bear. It’s an interesting approach, already used in The Babadook, but it keeps being effective when it comes to surviving your deepest fears. It’s also very clear that this is a special and personal project for the director/writer since it takes a real-life issue and portrays it with a happy ending for all to enjoy.

Another thing that Mommy’s Little Monster brings to the table is abusive relationships. In several scenes, you can hear background voices that form dialogues between two people who are discussing and fighting. It could be that these voices are the thoughts or memories that are going through the minds of the characters or are only there to dramatize the moment they are living. However the way that’s been used, these dialogues give a stronger bond to the plot since it helps avoid loose ends for the reasons that lead the mother to give an emotional outcome.

Mommy’s Little Monster has an effective message and tells us that childhood monsters are as scary as the ones we meet during adulthood. It might not be the best to say that we live scared of everything from birth to death, but it’s the most honest way to understand life and how to turn nightmares into better dreams.

Mommy’s Little Monster will be screening at…