Annual Top Films Lists

Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #95. Ryan Gosling’s How To Catch a Monster

Published on February 20, 2014

How To Catch a Monster

Director: Ryan Gosling
Writer: Ryan Gosling
Producers: David Lancaster, Michel Litvak, Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Jeffrey Stott
U.S. Distributor: Warner Bros.
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Christina Hendricks, Eva Mendes, Matt Smith, Iain De Caestecker, Ben Mendelsohn, Barbara Steele, Reda Kateb

I’d bet that a little creative process seasoning by the likes of two-time partnerships with Nicolas Winding Refn and Derek Cianfrance might have ultimately pushed Ryan Gosling to move in front of the camera with what sounds like an ambitious, genre-bending project. The picky Benoît Debie (Spring Breakers, Enter the Void) lenses.

Gist: Set against the surreal dreamscape of a vanishing city, BILLY, a single mother of two, is swept into a macabre and dark fantasy underworld while BONES, her eighteen-year-old son, discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town. Both Billy and Bones must dive deep into the mystery, if their family is to survive.

Release Date: The Detroit-shot film began lensing in May of 2013 – so while technically it could be ready for Cannes, the release strategy is in the hands of the studio. Are we looking at a Her type release?

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Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).