“What Happened to Monday” wants to be a thriller about overpopulation, climate change and global catastrophe. Instead it settles for a dull chase movie with seven identical leads nobody cares about.
The premise is simple: the world has hit seven billion people, and a new law limits families to one child. One couple breaks the rule and has seven daughters, each named after a day of the week. Six hide in secret while one stays above ground, working to find cures for the planet’s failing systems. The twist is that the government agent hunting the family is actually the seventh daughter, hiding her identity.
None of it lands.
Trailer, via Still Watching Netflix.
Seven Identical Leads
The film asks us to care about seven women who look exactly the same. That should be a strength. Instead it becomes a weakness. The script spends almost no time establishing personality beyond a name and a day. By the time the seventh daughter reveals herself, the audience has forgotten what made her different from the other six in the first place.
No actor can overcome that. Any one of them could have been cast as the hunter and the story would have unfolded the same way.
Climate Change as Plot Device
The film leans heavily on climate disaster as a backdrop. Drought, famine, disease, rising seas — the movie throws everything at the screen and hopes the spectacle carries it. It doesn’t.
The science fiction elements are treated as set dressing rather than character drivers. Characters talk about population pressure and resource scarcity without ever making those forces shape their decisions in a way that feels urgent. The stakes feel abstract, and the film’s attempts to make them personal through individual stories fall flat.
A Weak Finish
The plot drags in the middle and rushes through the final act. The twist about the seventh daughter is telegraphed early, and the reveal lands with a thud rather than a shock. The film’s attempt to tie the hunt back to the family’s original sin feels rushed and undercooked.
There is no chemistry between the leads worth mentioning. The action scenes are competent but generic, and the film’s attempts to build tension around the hunt fall apart once the reveal happens.
What Works
The film’s strongest element is its setting. The world it builds is grim, but the production design gives it a sense of place. The cityscapes, the crowded streets, the empty fields — these are the moments that stick.
The score also does some work. It knows when to swell and when to pull back, giving the film a pulse even when the script stalls.
Key Facts
- Title: What Happened to Monday
- Year: 2017
- Runtime: Not specified in the source material
- Score: 4.7 out of 10
The film fails to earn its emotional beats because it never takes the time to establish why we should care about these characters. The hunt is predictable. The twists are obvious. The stakes are distant.
There is no reason to recommend this film. It is forgettable in ways that a movie about overpopulation should not be.
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