Monica film review: subtly heartbreaking family drama
Monica film review and star rating: ★★★★
Italian director Andrea Pallaoro heads to The States for Monica, a story that feels particularly pertinent right now.
Trace Lysette plays a transgender woman who returns to her family home after being estranged for decades. She has been called to look after her mother (Patricia Clarkson), who is dying, and their time together unearths some deep wounds from the past.
The expectation for a film of this nature would be for high emotion, and heart-wrenching drama. But Monica goes a different way, being so understated at times that it can leave the viewer piecing together
the story.
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There’s a power in those silences, largely thanks to the talent of the cast. Lysette allows herself to be incredibly vulnerable on screen as she is introduced to family members she never knew she had, while also breaking down in quieter moments, mostly through phone calls to a boyfriend she is hoping to reconcile
with.
It’s heart breaking and genuine, with so many agonising questions lingering over pregnant pauses and small talk.
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The veteran character actor Patricia Clarkson is excellent as someone stubbornly grasping for control, even as her health and faculties let her down. Both women have a powerful connection on screen that implies a backstory of an entire lifetime. Elsewhere in the cast, Emily Browning has an impactful supporting role as Monica’s sister-in-law.
Monica is a sincere family drama in which less is more.
The Monica film is in cinemas from 15 December
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