Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival 2023 – As someone who has taught Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein more times than I can count, including a few of its film adaptations, it’s fair to say that I’m always eager to see a new take on the story. Writer/director Bomani J. Story’s The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster is a fresh and visceral spin on the classic tale, centering the story on a young Black girl’s experience, while still remaining faithful to Shelley’s timeless themes.

In this version, Laya DeLeon Hayes stars as Vicaria, a teenage “mad scientist,” as the neighborhood kids call her. Vicaria’s life has been marred by gang violence. She lost her mother when she was a kid and later her older brother Chris (Edem Atsu-Swanzy). Despite her troubled life, Vicaria is a wiz at school and obsessed with curing death. After digging up bodies, she eventually resurrects her older brother, but, just like Shelley’s Monster, Chris doesn’t come back quite right. He kills cops, gang leaders, and nearly anyone else who crosses his path.

As much as this is a monster movie with its fair share of gory and gruesome kills, it’s also very much a movie about a young Black girl living in a rough neighborhood, but certain that she’ll rise above that. This is first and foremost Vicaria’s narrative. Not only does she have to deal with the gangs, including the ruthless leader Kango (Denzel Whitaker), who forces her to work for him cutting drugs, she also faces teachers who try to erase her personal story and Black history more broadly. In fact, one teacher refuses to pronounce her name correctly and tries to bounce her from the classroom when she rightfully speaks up for herself and also questions the teacher’s method of instruction. This scene in particular is just as unnerving, maybe even more so, than some of the violence Chris eventually unleashes. It shows the structural challenges that Vicaria faces beyond gang violence.

This feature has plenty of positives, including the knockout performance by Hayes. The supporting cast is strong, too, especially Whitaker and Chad L. Coleman, who plays Vicaria’s father. Fans of “The Walking Dead” and “The Wire” can be assured that Coleman gives quite an intense and memorable performance here. Equally impressive is how well Story handles the layered themes of Shelley’s work, especially the complexities of both the Monster and scientist. Further, Story has some nice nods to familiar adaptations of Frankenstein, including a clever twist on the “it’s alive” moment in director James Whale’s iconic 1931 Universal film. At the same time, while remaining true to Shelley’s key ideas, Story very much has his own narrative and film here. This is the story of a young Black girl doing what she can to rise above her circumstances, while processing immense grief.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster is one of this year’s best horror films thus far. It’s a powerful and unique take on Shelley’s novel, while still remaining faithful to her work’s most prominent themes. Both Story and Hayes are talents to watch.

8 Out of 10