When Anna (Rapace) and her little boy, Anders (Vetle Ovenild Werring), move into an apartment and Anna purchases a baby monitor so that she can hear Anders as he sleeps, something strange happens. At night, Anna is sometimes awakened by the sounds of a violent man injuring a child. She is understandably disturbed, especially after she and Anders suffered at the hands of her estranged husband. When she returns to the store where she bought the monitor to inquire why this is happening, she is once again helped by Helge (Kristoffer Joner), a kind young man who takes a liking to this shy and frightened woman. He explains that the sounds could be coming from another baby monitor in the area, which is even more disturbing than Anna thinking she is crazy or hearing ghosts.
Anna and Anders are having difficulty adjusting, and with Helge possibly entering the picture, this complicates things further. She is afraid to let Anders go to school and fears his father discovering their new location. When Anders comes home from school with a shy and quiet friend, Anna notices some strange drawings in blood on the refrigerator. Add to that the fact that she is having visions of people being murdered, and she starts to doubt her own sanity. To make matters worse, the two people handling her case for Child Protective Services are concerned with her recent erratic behavior and claim that her husband may be able to take Anders away from her. As the pressure builds, Anna’s grasp on reality becomes more weak, but the truth is almost as frightening as her hallucinations.
The Monitor is far more thriller than horror. While there are some scary moments in the movie, the tension builds as Anna seems to lose her sanity and the things she is going through are what becomes the most frightening. It’s not the best movie in the world, but it’s a good watch. Because of the subtitles, you do have to pay attention to make sure you catch everything, but I enjoyed it and Noomi Rapace is always a pleasure. As far as special features go, there are the trailers and a handful of deleted scenes, but they are worth watching. Check it out if you don’t mind foreign films with subtitles and you are looking for a creepy flick to watch late at night.
