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Is it Maika Monroe’s affinity for the horror genre that gives her that haunted look, or is it her naturally haunted demeanor that draws her to such roles? It’s a mystery. As a Scream Queen, Monroe seemingly embodies horror with a depth that transcends the typical run-and-scream antics. In films like It Follows, The Guest, and Longlegs, her sunny Californian looks are offset by eyes that carry a weight of melancholy and a sense of being elsewhere. Her characters often reflect a working-class edge, a figurative display of roots that have grown in adversity.
This unique quality makes Monroe a fascinating choice for the role of a Colleen Hoover protagonist in the new film Reminders of Him. Known for crafting page-turners where romance emerges from tragedy, Hoover’s stories have transitioned to the big screen with some gloss, even when tackling grave themes. Reminders of Him is the third Hoover adaptation to surpass box office expectations, debuting with a stronger opening than the similarly titled Regretting You, which followed the hit It Ends with Us. While Blake Lively, star of Ends, can also portray a haunted look, Monroe’s portrayal of Kenna, a woman fresh out of prison seeking to rebuild her life, offers a more grounded, unglamorous authenticity. She convincingly embodies Kenna, a woman making do with a Mountain Dew t-shirt and accepting a kitten from her landlady in lieu of paying an electric deposit immediately.
In Reminders of Him, Monroe’s performance elevates the film to a level of respectability. Unlike the other Hoover adaptations, which verge on melodrama reminiscent of Nicholas Sparks, Reminders of Him curtails some of the more eccentric tendencies of Hoover’s storytelling. Initially self-published, Hoover’s work often exudes a self-contained universe, yet this film tempers that insularity. While it may be considered a more subdued Hoover narrative, it benefits from a more refined approach.
Still, melodrama is inherent in the storyline. Kenna’s imprisonment stemmed from a DUI accident that claimed her boyfriend’s life, making her return to her hometown fraught with difficulty. Her sentence and its harsh circumstances are slowly revealed, though perhaps with more dramatic flair than warranted. Kenna, who gave birth in prison, has not seen her child since. Five years later, she yearns to be a mother to her daughter, who is now under the care of her late boyfriend’s parents (played by Bradley Whitford and Lauren Graham), who are understandably resistant to Kenna’s return. Kenna’s encounter with her boyfriend’s friend Ledger (Tyriq Withers), who was absent during her initial relationship, leads to an unexpected romantic twist.
While Reminders of Him doesn’t offer much beyond what’s glimpsed in the trailer, it does capture small-town life effectively, with Alberta substituting for Wyoming. Monroe and Withers deliver engaging performances that lend credibility to the film’s narrative twists. Interestingly, if you’re in search of a 2026 film featuring Monroe as a resilient young woman out of prison facing melodramatic challenges, look no further than In Cold Light. An indie movie set in Alberta, it quietly premiered in the U.S. earlier this year. It’s intriguing to think that, in some Canadian theaters, viewers might have enjoyed both films back-to-back.
But lacking for that option, In Cold Light is worth watching at home, even if it goes in a vastly different direction from Reminders of Him. Monroe plays Ava, who does two years prison after getting busted for drug-dealing, and emerges to find her brother continuing the family business, unbeknownst to their aging rodeo worker father Will (Oscar winner Troy Kotsur), who thinks only Ava has been involved in criminal activity. She’s willing, even eager, to resume dealing, but after she’s blindsided by a horrific killing, she is forced to scramble for her life; much of the movie consists of Ava on the run from the cops and others, trying to figure out whether she can protect herself and her family. It’s a grim and concise contemporary noir thriller, with richly grainy 16mm celluloid swapped in for black-and-white.
So, not necessarily one for the if-you-liked-that-try-this shelf at the virtual video store for Reminders of Him. But the movies do play like companion pieces; watch them together, and it’s almost like you’re putting together a Sliding Doors-style vehicle for Maika Monroe, where her ex-con character is either sympathetically repentant or seething with resentment. In both of them, you can see the training that Final Girl-ing has given her, how it informs both her vulnerability and her grit. It’s considerably harder to picture any of the other Colleen Hoover Girls so far cast so believably as ex-dealer barely squirming her way out of sticky situations.
In Cold Light often does glancingly resemble a horror film, with a nightmarish situation and Monroe getting scraped and bloodied up pretty bad. Both movies harken back to the days of dependable studio programmers, when 80-minute noirs and romances were both pretty common. Now, the gulf between them is wider; Reminders of Him will make many times more money than In Cold Light, and neither will likely be as widely seen as Longlegs. But now that horror is a bigger business than ever, maybe it’s up to the Scream Queens to bring back some other neglected genres.
Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer living in Brooklyn podcasting at www.sportsalcohol.com. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Guardian, among others.