Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
Starring Kate Hudson, Jun Jong Seo, Craig Robinson and Evan Whitten

Movies don’t need to explain things, they have suspension of disbelief to rely on. How can Mona control peoples’ bodies but not their minds? Don’t expect a satisfying answer. Just sit back, relax, and think about what you would do if your best friend had the power.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon isn’t a power fantasy, it’s a vicarious jealousy trip through the mean streets of New Orleans, entrenched in its quirkiest characters. So, Mona is the prolific god among us, but around her are the relatables who’ve found themselves in an unexpected situation that we, the audience, can relate to: taking advantage of your cool friend – or if you take Mona’s perspective, a metaphor of refuge and escape.

Less than a metaphor is the blood moon in this film, with mouth-watering visions of moonlit strippers and dingy servos. Every opportunity director Ana Lily Amirpour gets to use a nice ultra-wide lens, segregating the action onto the lower 15 per cent of the screen, leaving the majority for the most literal full moon I’ve ever seen. These scenes really help in keeping stocktake of the in-film time, with the entire film seemingly taking place over two pitiful nights in the lowest slums of the city.

Mona’s futile attempts to fit in are often quashed by the selfishness of others who see her foreign powers only as utensils for themselves to further their own wealth. The closest connections between characters in Mona Lisa are among children, of which Mona is essentially one as adults in this hypersexualised realisation of America lack any empathy, thriving off vindication and spite.

There was undeniably a little bit of Deja-vu for me throughout the film, the big ol’ Terminator fan that I am, of traditional symbiotic mentorship between Mona and Charlie, like Terminator or maybe Iron Giant that never failed to catch me off guard. Eventually I stopped trying to categorise Mona Lisa in the Blood Moon, and the minute my disbelief was in the air the ride got a whole lot better.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from October 13th

Moviedoc thanks Kismet and Motto Publiity for the invite to the screening of this film.

Reviewed by Zak Wheeler for Moviedoc

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