Monolith (2022 film)
Monolith is a 2022 Australian sci-fi/thriller film which had its premiered in Australia on 27 October 2022 at the Adelaide Film Festival, and internationally at SXSW in March 2023. It stars Lily Sullivan, the only on-screen actor in the film, as a journalist uncovering a mystery. Described as high-concept science fiction, the film is written by Lucy Campbell, directed by Matt Vesely, and produced by Bettina Hamilton. Plot
"A disgraced journalist... turns to podcasting to salvage her career, before uncovering a strange artefact that she believes is evidence of an alien conspiracy". Cast
 Lily Sullivan as The Interviewer
 Erik Thomson as Dad (voice)
 Kate Box as Laura (voice)
Terence Crawford as Klaus (voice)
 Damon Herriman (voice)
 Ling Cooper Tang as Floramae (voice)
 Ansuya Nathan as Paula (voice)
 Matt Crook as Scott (voice)
 Rashidi Edward as John (voice)
 Brigid Zengeni as Shiloh (voice)
 Belle Kalendra-Harding

Production
Monolith is the first feature film to be produced as part of a joint initiative called "Film Lab: New Voices", by South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) and the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF). A development lab ran for 11 months, in which three teams (chosen for development out of an initial 63 contenders) developed their scripts, and one was chosen for production at this time. Monolith received an initial  in funding from SAFC and AFF, and with Mercury CX also helping to fund the film. The whole film was funded on less than . Lucy Campbell wrote the script; it is directed by Matt Vesely (development manager at Closer Productions) and produced by Bettina Hamilton. The cinematographer is Michael Tessari and Tania Nehme edited the film. Filming took place in the Adelaide Hills from late May 2022, and was shot over 15 days consecutively and in chronological order of events in the film. It is described as a high-concept science fiction thriller. It is all shot on one location, and there is just one on-screen actor (Lily Sullivan); various actors' voices speak to her on the telephone. These include  Damon Herriman,  Erik Thomson, and  Kate Box. Lone on-screen actor Lily Sullivan said in a 2023 interview that her role was the "challenge of a lifetime", finding it "terrifying", and saying "I ended up approaching it like theatre, almost... I've never been more aware of my voice". Release
Monolith had its Australian premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival on 27 October 2022. In January 2023 it was announced that the film would have its official world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March 2023. The world premiere took place at SXSW on 13 March 2023, with two further screenings at the festival. Monolith also screened at the Gold Coast Film Festival, held in HOTA, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, in April 2023, and had its Asian premiere at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea on 1 July 2023. It was listed by Screen Hub as one of "ten must-see films" at the Melbourne International Film Festival . It had its UK premiere at FrightFest in London on 26 August 2023, and was also selected to screen at many other festivals through the year, including Overlook Film Festival (New Orleans); Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival; Fantasy Filmfest (Germany); CinefestOz; Octopus Film Festival (Gdańsk, Poland); and Sitges Film Festival (Sitges, Spain). The film secured international sales teams – XYZ Films for North America and Blue Finch Films in the UK. Todd Brown, head of international acquisitions at XYZ, said, about director Matt Veseley, "We haven't been more excited about a filmmaker since we first came across Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson with their debut feature Resolution" (released 2013). The distributor of Monolith in Australian and New Zealand cinemas is Bonsai Films; and in North America, Well Go USA Entertainment. Blue Finch handles other international sales. Monolith has a limited release in New Zealand cinemas from 25 August 2023. It is released in Australian cinemas from 26 October 2023, shortly after screening at SXSW Sydney, and Q&A preview screenings in South Australia. Reception
After its screening at the Adelaide Film Festival, Rachael Mead of InDaily wrote: "Sullivan is superb as the ethically dubious journalist, effortlessly holding the focus of the entire film", and "Vesely’s feature is far more than a clever manipulation of constraint to heighten tension... Beneath the thrilling claustrophobia lies a cunning puncturing of privilege and a clear-eyed critique of the way we construct, manipulate and ultimately consume 'truth' in a globalised world". Reviews after the SXSW screenings were nearly all positive. Luke Gorham (In Review Online) draws parallels with the plot of Kiarostami's Shirin, only in reverse, and refers to the "way Vesely and his DP Michael Tessari articulate a sophisticated dynamism within their compositions", delivering "an intricate sensorial work wherein the richness of sound, silence, and spatial minimalism are tightly integrated". He praises Sullivan's performance, along with several other reviewers, and Vesely's direction, Lucy Campbell's script, Tessari's cinematography, and Benjamin Speed's score are all praised by several reviewers. Josh Hurtado (ScreenAnarchy) writes "Monolith is an intelligent, exquisitely mounted creeping nightmare of a film that I can't wait to read more about once it reaches audiences", while Mary Beth McAndrews (Dread Central) calls it "a gorgeous piece of lo-fi sci-fi that'll creep in through your ears and nestle itself in the folds of your brain". Anton Bitel compares Monolith with David Lynch's Lost Highway and Michael Haneke's Hidden, in that it too "is ultimately a tale of troubled conscience and conflicted self, where everything ultimately comes from within". Jennie Kermode of Eye for Film writes in her four-star review: "Monolith is a great example of how small things can be used to tell a big story, and it will stay with you". The critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes' "Tomatometer" was 90% . Variety was the only dissenting review at that point, finding that the second half let down the promise of the first, saying "the interesting questions raised earlier on evaporate; in their place are reveals that strain credulity". Monolith received good reviews following its showing at FrightFest in London in August 2023. After its release in Australian cinemas, an article in The Conversation talks of the film's commentary on narrowcasting": "Monolith is one of the first Australian films to critically navigate the ramifications of narrowcasting technology". The writer, an academic at Notre Dame University, also considers that "the strange solitude of interpersonal communication in the global information economy underpins the whole thing". He describes it as "a decidedly low-key film, but this should not be mistaken for dull. It is an arresting chiller, extremely tightly performed and made". Awards and nominations
Monolith was nominated as one of eight (out of 72) in Total Film's FrightFest Awards for Best Film, and Sullivan won Best Actress. It was selected as one of four nominees for the CinefestOZ Film Prize, the richest film prize in the country and worth , in September 2023. (It lost to Shayda, which was submitted for the Best International Feature category in the 2024 Academy Awards.) At Sitges Film Festival, Monlith was nominated for the New Visions Award (Best Motion Picture). Benjamin Speed's soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Song Composed for the Screen at the Screen Music Awards. References

External links

Interview with Matt Vesely, August 2023

2022 films
2022 independent films
2022 science fiction films
Australian science fiction thriller films
Australian independent films
Films set in South Australia
Films shot in Adelaide
2020s English-language films
Australian mystery thriller films
One-character films