Mel Gipson's 'Monster Summer' Is the Hidden Gem Everyone Skipped Last Year
Blink and you missed it — but now’s your second chance.
Did you miss Mel Gibson’s 2024 creature feature in theatres? You’re not alone. Monster Summer, the horror-adventure that dropped quietly last October, is finally headed to streaming — landing on Paramount Plus with Showtime this July 1, just in time for Summerween, as THR reveals.
The film’s theatrical run barely made a ripple, but fans who caught it gave it a warm reception — and it shows: an 84% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes suggests there’s more to this film than its limited release implied.
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Set in the summer of 1997, Monster Summer follows a retired cop, Gene Carruthers (played by Gibson with gruff warmth), and teen protagonist Noah Reed (Mason Thames) as they team up with a ragtag group of kids to save their island from an eerie force disrupting their sun-drenched freedom. What starts as a high-concept monster movie evolves into something deeper — a coming-of-age story with emotional weight, pulsing beneath the popcorn thrills.
Sure, it’s got the spooky stuff: foggy forests, creepy silhouettes, mysterious disappearances. But the real monsters? Grief, trauma, and growing up.
The 90s setting offers a charming throwback — no smartphones, no viral TikToks, just flashlights, bicycles, and the kind of summer you thought only existed in memory. Monster Summer leans into that nostalgia with sincerity, while still giving you the adrenaline rush you came for.
And now, with its streaming debut, a whole new audience will finally get to experience it — just in time to add a little heart to your haunted summer watchlist.
