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This captivating and excellently performed movie from Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro centers around a mysterious event that defies the typical formula of “issue movies” with their expected conflicts, emotional release, and tidy resolutions. Similar to Pallaoro’s previous film Hannah, which featured Charlotte Rampling as the tormented protagonist, Monica also showcases his precise and deliberate approach to storytelling through carefully crafted scenes and silent moments captured from a distance with a stationary camera. At times, this is contrasted with intense and off-kilter close-ups.
Trace Lysette, a transgender performer, portrays Monica in the film. Monica relies on income from sex work and has developed a smooth and pleasant voice, possibly for professional purposes. However, this voice also reveals her anger during phone conversations with her partner or clients who disappoint her. Monica is currently going through a difficult break-up and is also dealing with distressing news from her family. Her mother Eugenia, played by Patricia Clarkson, is in the final stages of dementia and is being taken care of in their luxurious family home, from which Monica was kicked out as a teenager. Monica’s brother, Paul (Joshua Close), his wife Laura (Emily Browning), and their children are now assisting with Eugenia’s care, along with the housekeeper Leticia (Adriana Barraza). Although Eugenia does not recognize Monica, she seems to be content with her involvement in the caregiving process.
The circumstances are highly intricate and distressing. In a bedroom that used to be her family home, possibly even Monica’s old bedroom, Monica engages in online sex work with a client (work which solely supports her temperamental red sports car), but this is disrupted by Eugenia’s anguished sobs and nightmares coming from the adjacent room. It is a scenario that could be portrayed as darkly comedic in another film, but here it is calmly and empathetically acknowledged as just another issue to be resolved.
Monica has words she wants to express to Eugenia, but is currently unable to do so. However, an unexpected realization surfaces – for unknown reasons, Eugenia feels at ease and even happy in Monica’s presence. Both of them have reached a unique state of being, free from their past and personal identities, and are able to interact simply as individuals. It is a return to a state of innocence; there is a poignant moment where Eugenia looks into Monica’s face and smiles with the contentment of a child. Even Paul, who initially appears hostile, softens and reveals that he too experienced vulnerability as a young person. The possibility arises that their late father may have been the source of their pain, rather than Eugenia. Overall, this is an exquisitely crafted and intellectually stimulating film.
Source: theguardian.com
