Went to this movie on Saturday night. Another Stephen King novel-converted-movie where if you think into the deeper layers of the meaning it meant to bring to the audience. The whole story revolves around a bunch of people trapped in a local grocery store with monsters running loose in the open.

Take it from a commercial perspective, this would just be like the usual monsters-running-loose-survival kinda movie for people who likes the taste. But what I would like to emphasize more on is the inner meaning it is trying to tell, of course through my interpretation.

The grocery store, having a glass front, is easily penetrated. The people tried to stack up fertilizers and dog food as a barrier but of course it would not even have any effect, not even for the smallest of monsters. This could very well be taken as the hearts of human where fear can easily penetrate in if the individual allows it to. All the monsters, as specified by the movie’s tagline, is fear, and it changes everything we interpret about the world. Fear, is everywhere.

In the midst of crisis, there seem to be a religion lunatic which keeps on spreading misbeliefs that the appearance of monsters is actually an act of God, punishing non-believers. In the beginning, nobody believed her and took her as some lunatic. As fear spreads and more and more hearts become despair, everything she said seems to be logical to the mind. And then people who didn’t believe initially, turned to become followers. It proves how vulnerable a heart with fear became that the mind couldn’t find a way to survive, the heart took control to believe in whatever there is left to believe in the absence of hope.

In the end, a group of survivers, despite all the revolving monsters (fear) outside, managed to get on a vehicle and took off. But as they move on, the mist was to be seen everywhere. When the gas ran out, they could not find salvation at all. Now they were left with a gun with 4 loaded bullets and 5 survivers, but no hope. They were ready to give up life, and the main cast pulled the trigger on all 4, including his son, and went out the car to face the monsters (fear, again). Minutes later, while thinking it was the monsters, the military came.

I just can’t help thinking that if they would’ve waited for another 30 minutes, they would’ve been saved. But all hope was lost. They gave up. This movie really reminds me of how important hope is to the despaired heart. In the worst of situations, hope can make one strive for success and heroism. Hope can even make a commoner someone great, even false hopes. Isn’t it the same in our life? With all source of fears revolving around our lives and everywhere we go? A heart made of glass, easily penetrated by fear? Filled with despair? It really is an eye-opener (do we really have this term in English, as in can opener? :P), I guess.