MONICA (2022)

 

Directed By: Andrea Pallaoro

Written By: Andrea Pallaoro and Orlando Tirado

Cinematography: Katelin Arizmendi 

Editor: Paola Freddi

Cast: Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Joshua Close, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Bobby Easley

The intimate portrait of a woman who returns home to care for her dying mother. A delicate and nuanced story of a fractured family, the story explores universal themes of abandonment, aging, acceptance, and redemption.

This is a slow, strong, subtle-moving film. 

As we watch the pain, the main character goes through taking care of a mother who doesn’t remember who she is especially after she changes her sex. 

There is a lot said in the silence of this film that we are left to read into, guess, and infer. No, they clearly speak loud and clear even when subtle.

There are a lot of close-ups that reflect a familiar distance between the characters that keeps them apart or at a certain length as we can quite see them fully and framed, in quite a few scenes.

Most of the characters are seen at odd angles and revealed slowly and only important to the character of Monica and the story

Trace Lysette as the title character is the only one always in focus and fully framed. She is beautiful and penetrating in a powerful performance, full of anger, sadness, and ultimately confidence.

I will admit, I have followed Trace Lysette career for a while, and online, and admit, I am a fan so getting to see her starring in a film and knock it out of the park. Also getting to be luminous brave strong, a little romantic at first victim, standing her ground and becoming a winner.

We see the pain of her having to watch her mother deteriorate and also lavish, loving feelings on her brother about family and how it’s important hello even though her mother gave her up to a certain extent. While she is there and not recognized and is being treated like a stranger, which seems to be a special kind of torture, especially when caring for a loved one. 

Helping support is a kind of adversary that she keeps trying to please or find a connection with or hopes to start reconnecting with. Revealing herself to a family and a new identity, but with the same old history between them.

Like the title, the film stays tightly focused on her never really allowing that much room for other characters or quite a bigger picture.

It seems that throughout this film. When it rains it pours before Monica as bad things just keep seeming to happen one after the other. 

Rejected by an ex Who constantly keeps trying to reach out to she’s desperate to find connections when her family seems not able to. She even has a one-night stand with a rather random male just to feel some pleasure and have someone care and desire her. The character is not sexless. 

Patricia Clarkson plays the slowly dying mother, and she is good here as she’s always been a good actress but never gets enough credit or work.

The second half is more like all the characters getting to know each other and the family more.

For some reason, the film reminds me of a Bon Iver album, peaceful with some sharp notes with a certain calm that occasionally gets disrupted by reality and time. Though for the most part stays in Its own place.  Does the film never feel like it’s a conventional movie or like anyone is truly acting.

The film dives into the depths of the agony of losing a parent, especially the second time as the first time you were banished and abandoned.

The film ends up being a character about facing the past and informing the present. As you fall in love with the family as well as her the character who is quite the bombshell, but whose emotions or emotional landscape might seem closed at first, but is always open. I can’t say this is enough Ms. Lysette is definitely a star.

 this film is quite personal in its material and effective 

Grade: B