A quiet film full of yearning, Monica is the story of a trans woman who returns to her childhood home to help care for her memory-faded terminally ill mother.
I added Monica to my watchlist after seeing stars Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson on a morning talk show one day. I had never heard of it before and I haven’t heard about it since, so I’m glad to be able to give it a bit more buzz, even if it is a few years old now.
Monica is about Monica, a trans woman who is contacted by a sister-in-law that she has never met, who asks her to come back home because her mom, Eugenia, is dying. Eugenia has a brain disorder and, between the pain, illness, and fogginess, her memory is failing. Monica, who has been estranged from her family since she was a teenager, has not communicated with any of them since the day her mom told her to leave.
This is a very quiet drama with lots of undertones. Mostly full of silent but palpable anxiety and craving, Monica goes through the motions of being with the mother who has hurt her so deeply, but doesn’t know who she is. And, at the end of the day, all anyone wants is acceptance – which is all you want for Monica.
Monica is a hurt person who has spent her life trying to survive and find someone to love her, but sometimes, in her moments alone, you see very small sparks of happiness. There is one scene where she is all by herself and dancing in a t-shirt in her bedroom. She never smiles, but you can feel that, right now, she is the most herself.
Eugenia, who seems to be a more open person than she might have once been, is loving with her grandchildren and polite to her caretakers. Monica sees this as well, but how do you protect yourself and make yourself vulnerable at the same time? Both leads emit unspoken emotion that hangs in the air.
The cinematography in Monica is fantastic, as are lead actresses Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson. A lot of the film is shot in long takes that follow Monica as she is driving or floating in water. There are scenes that are filmed through car doors so that you can see one character clearly and a bit of the backside of Monica, and another where you are looking at her curled up in a bathtub from the top down. There are some really lovely and intimate moments captured this way.
Monica is a film that is very much about the trans experience, but also about the connection that every child is looking for with their parents. It is very soft in terms of speaking voices and communication between people, but there is so much below the surface that it is much more than it appears to be. A really great film.
Runtime: 113 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 4.25/5 Stars
Available: Free on Hulu, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
I added Monica to my watchlist after seeing stars Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson on a morning talk show one day. I had never heard of it before and I haven’t heard about it since, so I’m glad to be able to give it a bit more buzz, even if it is a few years old now.
