Monos

MONOS - Neon

Think Apocalypse Now meets Lord of the Flies but there is still so much more weight, layers and terror that will leave the viewer truly short of breath. Monos, directed by Alejandro Landes, is a gripping and disturbing gut punch in every sense imaginable.

Landes’s film keeps all its secrets and trajectory quite close to its chest, not because it sets itself up as a puzzle but instead crafts a contextual mysticism of throwing its viewer into the unknown. This adds a significant ploy for engagement and immersion of the characters and story by having the viewer in boots-on-the-ground aesthetic.

It is a slow build, one that continually builds and builds progressively with dynamic and allusive evolution. The first act most notably creates a quiet, quaint portrait of extremism and rebellion with little information of who and why but nevertheless digs deep under the growth of character development for that sizeable impact later on, unbeknownst to the audience at this stage. The captivating nature of that first act is all but an astonishing piece of terrific filmmaking from the performances, score and cinematography.

All of the relatively unknown and feature debut cast is superb throughout. That fresh vibrancy of the unknown adds a profoundly significant pull to the compelling nature of the film. It is emotionally engulfing watching these children descend into forms of the torturous and evil necessity of their own doing becomes. Furthermore, for what makes ninety percent of the cast up as semi-professional actors, it is quite a marvellous achievement from the casting department of Juan Sebastián Peña and Catalina Rodríguez Ramos, of whom have terrific eyes for talent.

Sofia Buenaventura as Rambo is one particular element to this film that without her talent, Monos would undeniably not have stretched the features prowess and gravitas to the lengths it achieves. Buenaventura, who acts at times solely with her eyes and facial expressions, puts forward perhaps one of the most emotionally engulfing and resonating performances viewers will see all year. The last frame with the character involved is one the most powerful and emotionally destructive frames constructed and reaffirms the thematic weight that Monos proposes with a sledgehammer of turmoil.

Moisés Arias and Julianne Nicholson are the only two performers involved here that have any sizeable experience as professional performers. Both are equally tremendous in their respective roles as Bigfoot and Doctora but take distinctively different and polar opposite angles with their characters, being best to give as little detail as possible to their respective arcs. However, the most notable and effective aspect is the daunting and impacting screen presence of Arias — which is sublime. For an actor barely over the five-foot mark, how he conveys such a monstrous and demanding presence on screen is that of stunning visual performance with eyes that cut like knives.

The material present is by far no easy task to both convey and develop. It is handled well, written with nuance by writer/director Alejandro Landes and co-writer Alexis Dos Santos, putting forward a compelling and captivating twist on a rendition of Lord of the Flies. There is a policial underbelly here but nothing that overtakes the story into something that would drastically sway and change the impact, yet it remains an all-important underbelly. One notable aspect is the lack of answers and explanation to the proceeding events that occur. It is one thing that will most likely infuriate some but work tremendous results for others. Nevertheless, it is an element that works tremendously to not overly complicate or drow the viewer in expositional diarrhea.

Last but not least: the cinematography and score. To say that these two small but effective aspects are not only vital but sublime throughout would drastically underplay their respective roles in this feature. The eye of Jasper Wolf as cinematographer is one that captures the most distinctly impressive and jaw-dropping visuals with a keen underpinning of thematic balance present in all most every shot, with Daniela Schneider as production designer and Angela Leyton as Art Direction. The quietness of the mountain ranger acting as utopian heaven or the fiery intensity of the jungle as emotions run high are all systematic and methodical instances of a genius team at work, with a gritty foreboding and unsettling score by composer Mica Levi flourishing as a signal for anger and intent, rising and evolving in pace with the unsettling drama in a daunting and spellbinding partnership.

Monos is available via limited cinematic release.