Maybe it's because I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about it. Maybe it's because I've never seend this side of Monique, whatever the reason, The Reading is a lot better than I thought it would be. I wouldn't call it a horror but as a thriller it delivered with solid performances esp from the two leading ladies, tension and solid pacing for the first two acts. Monique elevates what could've been just another meh story with the kind of performance I wished Mama delivered. To each his own but I think the bad reviews are a bit too harsh so I recommend checking this one out for yourself.