Movie Review Monica (2023)
Monica , 2023
Directed by Andrea Palaora.
With Trace Lisette, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Browning, Joshua Close, Adriana Barasa, Bobby Isley, Graham Caldwell, Ali Amin, Gene Zarzur and Ruby James Fraser.
SYNTAX :
An intimate portrait of a woman returning home to care for her dying mother. A subtle and detailed tale of a broken family, the story explores the universal themes of rejection, aging, acceptance and redemption.
Monica has a moment that emotionally cuts a person into 100 pieces, delving into every dynamic depicted. This revelation will come to the viewer at different times (for some it may happen before the movie begins). It's an exquisitely crafted revelation that recontextualizes the true-life story of a woman who returns home to her estranged family and reunites with her terminally ill mother with a brain tumor.
The characters already seem incredibly human and complex, but this vital layer turns co-writer/director Andrea Palaor's (co-written with Orlando Tirado) family drama on its head without even delving into the past or demeaning some of the characters; the filmmakers know that this is optional, and that the fewer words the better. We understand what happened and feel it deeply as we watch these characters calmly reconnect and interact with each other. Without fully revealing what's going on, it's safe to say that Trace Lisette offers a wonderful master class as the titular Monica, especially when it comes to the pent-up emotion and weight of a thousand unspoken words in her expression, stillness and stillness. which tells an incredible LGBT story.
Monica (Trace Lisette) works as a masseuse and is currently going through a tough time with an invisible romantic partner named Jimmy, who wants to call and find a way to fix the situation, even if it doesn't seem like an idea. There is NO better. and that reduces its value. This dilemma is temporarily resolved when he receives a call from a woman named Laura (Emily Browning), married to his brother Paul (Joshua Close) with young children, who finds time to care for her mother Ginny (Patricia). The fragile Clarkson is full of regret and complicated feelings (at least when she understands what is around her and where she is) with the caretaker, played by Adriana Barrazo.
This brings Monica back to the mother she no longer knows, slowly revealing the small details of the past that led to her being separated from her family, and not just her identity, but her immediate family as well. trying to find out who they are. All of these things are connected, as it becomes clear that Laura and Paul were constantly arguing about some topic, no doubt related to his past with Monica, before they left.
The drama is beautifully crafted and beautifully staged, but director Andrea Palaora also leaves some memorable images with intimate shots, poetic reflections and powerful use of Academy proportions and extreme close-ups. As Monica tries to move on from the past and return to this family and everyone's current lives, she also falls back into old habits like. a bar date with a truck driver where she continues to fight for herself. However, her relationship with Jimmy reaches a breaking point over the phone. Monica also explores these harsher, more humiliating aspects without veering into stale melodramatic territory. There is no falsity in the story here.
Of course, while everything is tied up nicely in Monica , the second half can be a bit too strong and ends on a less emotional note than something satisfying in terms of understanding and seeing exactly who these characters are. it is also a freedom that everyone deserves. Although the story progresses slowly, it remains entertaining for the most part. That anchor performance by Trace Lisette is the key to this; she's gorgeous, and the film has a way of crystallizing everything in the story through minimalism, yet still evokes an overwhelming emotion.
Rating "Blinking Myths" - movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ / movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Koider is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics' Choice Association. He is also a reviewer for Flickering Myths. Stay tuned for new reviews here, follow me on Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com.
