Plot Summary
On the surface, Monolith appears to be a science-fiction film about foreboding black bricks that mysteriously appear in people’s homes around the world. There is a suggestion in the film that these bricks could be of extraterrestrial origin.
The unnamed journalist in the film is intrigued by these bricks and tries to form a story around them for her podcast, ‘Beyond Believable.’
But as she interviews people who have come into contact with the bricks, she makes a surprising discovery.
Monolith is quite an abstract film and is open to interpretation. Some will believe the black bricks have something to do with aliens. However, we think the truth is far more earthly and relatable.
In this ending explained article for Monolith, we briefly examine the film and ask the question: What is the significance of the final scene?
Why is the journalist making the podcast?
After getting into trouble for publishing a news story without fact-checking her sources, the journalist’s career is on the line. To get back into the spotlight, she decides to make the ‘Beyond Believable’ podcast.
The subject of her latest podcast is the emergence of mysterious black bricks that various people have received. Her goal is to find out the truth about these bricks and where they came from, but in the process, she learns something about herself instead.
Who does the journalist speak to?
The journalist contacts various people connected to the bricks and records her conversations with them.
The first person she speaks to is Floramae, who tells the journalist she worked for a man many years ago. One day, her client’s furniture was scratched and he blamed Floramae’s daughter, Paula, for the vandalism. Paula denied the act but Floramae was still sacked for her daughter’s apparent offense.
At the time, Floramae had a black brick in her possession. But her client took it from her as payment for the damages and sold it to an art collector.
Following the conversation with Floromae, the journalist calls the art collector; a man named Klaus Lang. She asks him if he remembers buying the brick from somebody years before.
Lang tells her he has more than one brick and that his first brick appeared in his house when he was younger. He received the brick at the time when his brother had just died. Lang believes the brick spoke to him in some way and that it caused him to have visions.
The journalist goes on to speak to other people, including a woman named Laura who also had visions after receiving the brick.
Laura tells the journalist that she couldn’t eat anything at the time and that she wanted to talk to somebody who could understand the black brick she had received.
Another man the journalist speaks to tells her to stop following the story of the black bricks as they are like a disease that she could catch. He tells her about his grandfather who owned a black brick and who had an illegitimate child with another woman. The grandfather didn’t know about this until he saw the woman sometime later. Before his death, he was found whispering to an empty chair, apologizing to the child he didn’t know had been born.
What does the journalist discover about herself?
The journalist receives a package on her doorstep. In it is a USB stick containing a video of her 9th birthday.
When she watches the video, she sees her younger herself talking about the wonderful gifts she has received. She mentions a black brick as being one of the gifts, although we later learn this was a mistake, as the brick wasn’t intended for her.
In the video, the journalist sees Floramae and Paula. She then realizes it was her father that Floramae had worked for and that he had fired her.
The journalist calls Floramae but it’s Paula who picks up. Paula is angry with the journalist for what she did to her family.
The journalist then speaks to her father who tells her Paula was violent. After firing Floramae, he called the police and put a fine on the family that they couldn’t pay. So, as payment, he took the black brick from them.
During these conversations, the journalist begins to remember moments from her past. She recalls it was she who scratched the furniture and then blamed it on Paula.
After coming to terms with these lost memories, the journalist gets stomach ache. Moments later, she pulls a black brick from her mouth.
The journalist tries to destroy the black brick but fails to do so when it becomes her duplicate. A fight takes place between the two and the journalist kills her copy.
At the end of the film, she returns to her podcast and makes a final statement:
“All you have to do is listen.”
What is the meaning of the film?
As we suggested at the beginning of this article, Monolith is open to interpretation. There’s a chance this film is about aliens and that these extraterrestrial beings passed on a disease that was carried by the bricks.
However, we think the film is less a science-fiction piece and more a metaphor for mental illness.
When the journalist speaks to the people who owned the black bricks, they all share stories related to trauma. Floramae was sacked from her job; Lang was grieving the loss of his brother; and the caller’s grandfather felt guilty for not knowing he had fathered an illegitimate child. The journalist herself had suffered trauma when she lost her job.
At the end of the film, the journalist chokes up a black brick. Could this be a symbol of the repressed guilt that she was forced to confront? Maybe.
When the brick becomes a copy of herself, this could be representative of her fractured mind, which unravelled as the film went on. When she conquers her duplicate, this might be a symbol of her conquering her guilt for her part in ruining Floramae and Paula’s lives.
Another clue that the film might be about mental illness is the scene in which she alters her podcast by reassembling the conversation she had with Floramae. This could be reflective of the way memories of traumatic events change and become distorted as time passes.
We are just speculating as we don’t have a definite answer. We also realize some questions have been left unanswered. Why did Floramae have the brick in the first place? What are the strange inscriptions that were found within the bricks? We aren’t entirely sure, though it’s possible that we missed something. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.
What is the significance of the final scene?
The journalist’s final line is “All you have to do is listen.”
This could be a reminder of the importance of listening to somebody who is struggling with their mental health. Talking about one’s feelings is a healthy way of dealing with depression and trauma. The journalist used her podcast as a way to talk, and her listeners enabled her to do so.
By talking, the journalist was able to remember her past and deal with her repressed feelings. So, it might be that we aren’t supposed to take the film at face value. There’s a chance that it’s a parable with important messages about how we deal with mental health in our lives.
But what do you think? Have we got it wrong? Do you agree with us? Are there other clues in the film to suggest Monolith is about mental health? Let us know in the comments below.
Read More: Monolith Review
From what I understand, the alien invasion is real because the government studied these cases back in the 80s, and there is evidence that the “black brick” actually exists. The aliens exploit our fears and guilty to replace us, using the podcast as a means of spreading their influence. In the end, when the alien kills the protagonist, it uses the podcast to further the invasion with the message, “All you have to do is let me in.” Everyone who listens to the podcast will eventually receive the “brick” and be replaced sooner or later.
I agree with Hanzo about the Guilt explanation. But not just guilt: secrecy. The brick is a metaphor for represed guilt wanting to come out. Maybe there were aliens watching all our life (remember at the beginning when the guy was talking about the camera with images about his family?) and giving us the brick as a reminder to confront our guilt. Guilt is real, and it is always there, close to us, in the back of our minds. But worse than being guilty is keeping it secret. And that’s why that mental illness appeared to be spreading when talking about it. Secrets only bring more darkness, maybe more guilt. That’s where the “The truth will out” comes. The journalist had the opportunity to speak up her truth after talking with her father, but instead, she decided to keep the secret and that’s when the brick appeared, from inside her. The truth wanted out. And when she conciously refused to accept it, when she tried to smash the brick, she lost her one chance to make things right. So the doppelganger appeared and killed her. Because either we confront the truth or we die inside.
Hey Greg, thanks for getting in touch. The movie is a real head scratcher, which made writing an Explainer article quite tricky. Is it a metaphor for mental illness? Or a straight-up sci-fi movie? I veered towards the former but as you said, there are lots of questions that leave that interpretation up for debate.
It’s still a pretty good film though and it’s always good to have something that doesn’t pamper to the viewer.
If you have your own theories, please do let us know.
Lee :)
Fascinating. I guess there’s no right answer since its open interpretation is left to the viewer.
The metaphor for mental illness fits nicely. However, some details are left unanswered if this interpretation is to be understood. Where did the box come from? Who knew where she was staying? Why is Floramae at the birthday party when she was fired over the black brick debacle? Did not the MIT scientist confirm the existence of the symbols? What happened to the brick collector? It’s physically impossible to cough up a brick. Why is the point made that the doppelgänger is physically stronger, by crushing the recording device, but not able to over power the struggling journalist at the lake?
I think “All you have to do is listen” is like the vampire saying “All you have to do is let me in.” In other words, the disease of the bricks is spread by talking about the bricks. The interpreter has decided to infect everyone now who will listen to her podcast.
Thanks for your interpretation Hanzo. It certainly makes sense :)
Lee
I think is entirely about guilty, the mom feels guilty for had not protected his child, the old dude cause he was happy about his brother death and so on, if you have a brick (guilt) and carry to much time you willl end up being a body with out soul like the dude with other family, is about to happen to her but in the end she is decided to speak the truth so she defeat the souless copy