Cranked Up Films has announced the official US release of Alex Noyer’s folk horror Love Is the Monster on Prime Video June 23. The film made its world premiere at the 2025 Screamfest Film Festival and went on to screen at Morbido and Night Visions. Madeline Zima (Californication, Twin Peaks: The Return) and Leonardo Nam (Westworld, Descendants: The Rise of Red) headline as a troubled couple who heads to Finland for a transformative retreat where they fall prey to a malevolent ancient goddess of love.
Love Is the Monster is Noyer’s second feature film, following the horror film Sound of Violence starring Jasmin Savoy Brown, and the first he produced in his native Finland on local mythology. Noyer co-wrote the script with his Sound of Violence collaborator Hannu Aukia and Blair Bathory, and Laurence Gendron joins Noyer and Aukia as a producer.
Zima and Nam are joined in their disastrous onscreen adventure by Kimberly Sue-Murray (The Boys), Moe Jeudy-Lamour (Ted Lasso), Kristina Tonteri-Young (Warrior Nun), Milla Puolakanaho (Attack on Helsinki), and Sheila McCarthy (Women Talking).
Beginning June 23, audiences across the United States will be able to rent or own Love Is the Monster exclusively on Prime Video.
As Love Is the Monster prepares to lure audiences, Noyer said in a statement, “Releasing Love Is the Monster during Finnish midsummer couldn’t be more fitting, as it’s when our story unfolds. While a real trip to Finland is far less eventful, our devious goddess Lempo is ready to welcome audiences.”
Following their marriage being rocked by infidelity, Ana and Justin attend an exclusive couples retreat in Finland, under the golden rays of the summer’s midnight sun. They join other international couples to experience the transformative teachings of the shaman and healer, Tiina, inspired by the ancient Finnish goddess of love and fertility, Lempo. Despite her doubts and some ominous first experiences, Ana gives the retreat a chance, but the thrill is quickly replaced by a battle for survival, as the influence of the divinity and the pagan rituals turn deadly. Couples’ problems lead to calamity, while Ana learns about the peculiar role she unwittingly plays in Tiina’s plans.
