There Are Monsters (2013) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

A monstrous doppelgänger that has taken a human form, Arm Eater embodies the film’s creeping replacement threat. As one of the invading entities, she mirrors the world while erasing it, signaling how easily a person can be swapped. Her presence underscores the core horror: identity can be copied, leaving the real self unrecognizable.

• 🧟 Monster
• 🧬 Invasion

A member of the graduate film crew who documents the trip and initially tries to rationalize the strange behavior. As the situation worsens, his skepticism gives way to fear as the crew witnesses people turning into eerie copies. The camera becomes both witness and liability, pulling him deeper into paranoia.

• 🎬 Filmmaker
• 🧭 Survival

Another member of the crew who helps document the events and keep equipment running. As the tension escalates, he grapples with fear and disbelief while trying to maintain some sense of normalcy. His reactions contribute to the mounting stress and danger the group faces.

• 🎥 Crew
• 🧭 Tension

A member of the film crew who notices the locals' odd behavior and voices concerns about what might be behind the changes. She becomes a focal point for suspicion, highlighting the fear of losing control over one’s surroundings. Her perspective sharpens the sense that something in the town is not as it seems.

• 👥 Team Member
• 🔎 Suspicion

One of the monstrous doppelgängers encountered by the crew; a visible threat that embodies the invasion. The Monster's presence marks the moment the film shifts from eerie oddities to tangible danger. It represents the physical manifestation of the town’s uncanny transformation.

• 👹 Monster
• 🧬 Anomaly

A second doppelgänger variant; part of the invading force. Arm Eatee mirrors the crew’s fear and heightens the sense of an growing, pervasive replacement threat. The appearance of this entity reinforces the theme of bodies being copied and controlled.

• 🧟 Monster
• 🧬 Invasion

One half of the Mitosis Twins, whose presence introduces a double, uncanny dynamic within the town. The twin’s existence amplifies the film’s exploration of duplication and the unsettling feeling that reality contains copies of itself. Their actions contribute to the creeping dread surrounding identity and perception.

• 👯 Twin
• 🧪 Experiment

The other half of the Mitosis Twins, sharing the same eerie synchronization with her sister. Together, they embody the unsettling theme of replication and the ambiguity of what is real versus what is a copy. Their presence deepens the sense of an abnormal, duplicated world.

• 👯 Twin
• 🧪 Experiment

The doppelgängers force questions about who belongs and who is real. The film shows how identity can be copied and replaced, turning familiar faces into strangers. The crew's attempts to tell who is human become complicated by appearances alone, underscoring how perception shapes reality. Identity dissolves as the boundary between self and copy blurs.

Unnerving behavior and stilted speech breed creeping distrust among the crew. The handheld camera turns witnesses into suspects, amplifying paranoia as every interaction feels staged. Trust disintegrates as people vanish or become unrecognizable in the crowd. The sense of being watched intensifies the fear that something unseen is replacing the town.

The arrival of perfect replicas signals an invasion that hides in plain sight, infiltrating daily life. The threat is not loud spectacle but a patient, insidious takeover. As more locals are replaced, the film suggests a broader, perhaps global, danger beyond the road trip. The monsters' existence reframes the normal as a stage for invasion.

The film’s handheld, documentary style heightens immediacy and realism, making the horror feel plausible. The cameras become witnesses to transformations in real time, not just spectacle. Viewers experience events through the crew’s uncertain perspective, blurring lines between truth and fiction. The lo-fi aesthetic amplifies dread by making the threat seem possible today.