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Despite its menacing title, Monsters From the Id is not a monster movie. Avid science-fiction fans would recognize that the title is taken from the 1950s film Forbidden Planet, a sci-fi take-off of Shakespeare’s The Tempest where a villainous alien beast is conjured up from one character’s subconscious—a monster from the id. David Gargani applies this concept of the subconscious manifestation to a generation of scientific advancements. Using clips from over 30 classic sci-fi movies and television shows, all fondly talked about by scientists and astronauts, Gargani shows how these brilliant minds were shaped at an early age by movies that spark their imagination.

It’s not just any science-fiction movie, however. Star Wars, I suppose, wouldn’t count. The main difference between 50’s sci-fi and today’s, the film suggests, is the hero archetype. Back then, when monster and alien movies were at the peak of its popularity, we made heroes out of scientists, who use their smarts against threats to mankind. The Modern Scientist, as opposed to the Mad Scientist of Victorian fiction, whose scientific exploits are beneficial, not dooming. These days, we’re lucky to have a scientist as the main character at all; they’re mostly comic relief sidekicks, or worse, exposition tools.

During the age of the space race, real life scientists were on TV and at the movies, inspiring a generation of hopefuls. They were rock stars. Monsters From the Id's subjects argue that they grew up with these intelligent, scientific heroes and wanted to emulate them, as opposed to the often blue collar/simpleminded action heroes of today, rarely requiring them to use intellect in solving problems. Action, apparently, speaks louder than equations these days.

It’s an interesting question: is the decline of interest in science among young people attributed to lack of representation in pop culture? It’s not a radical idea, but the film’s weakness ultimately comes from its lack of scope, which is a blow to its claim’s credibility. It would have been nicer to see a wider range of scientists interviewed offering their firsthand accounts—which, what little the film offers, are genuinely interesting—in place of some film critic talking about the social climate of the era, but it's too consumed with spreading its focus thin. Aside from the lack of a smart role model, the film also makes suggestions about how things like the pursuit of outer space could save the world crisis, or how private companies will be the answer to future space exploration, since the US government no longer have that capacity. Fascinating points that are unfortunately just stated as fact, rather than argued.

Gargani is obviously dictating a personal love to monster movies too, specifically the great gonzo stuff like Fiend Without a Face and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. What this documentary does solidly is being a nice love letter to a seemingly non-existent genre, despite the sci-fi revival of recent years. That's more reason to like Iron Man, right?