"Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon" - Film Review
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon opens with a haunting rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “Mona Lisa” as the camera snakes its way through a dark and dreary swamp. It’s the first of many campy, on-the-nose needle drops that take place over the course of the film, and an indication that writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour has created something quite bizarre and otherworldly, yet strangely human.
Mona Lisa (Jeon Jong-seo) is being held in an asylum outside New Orleans. She’s considered to be highly dangerous and is kept in a padded cell because of her psychokinetic powers. Tired of the abuse she suffers at the hand of the nurse who is supposed to care for her, Mona uses her powers to escape. Soon, she finds herself in the neon-drenched streets of New Orleans, where she meets a rotating cast of characters who accompany her on a journey throughout the city.
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As Technicolor and dizzying as Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is, the film is jarringly empty. There are twinges of Carrie mixed with Zola told through a take on Sean Baker’s distinctive style, but Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon has trouble standing on its own. Amirpour is clearly relishing the camera work and the zooms that distort the world when Mona Lisa uses her powers. The film comes close to being overindulgent in its own stylish vibes, but manages to restrain itself. Once the style is gone, the lack of substance is impossible to ignore. Particularly in the case of Mona Lisa herself and her lack of dialogue.
That’s not to say that a main character has to have a lot of lines in order to have substance. It’s common, of course, but films like Mad Max: Fury Road prove that a character of few words can still be fully realized. The issue with Mona Lisa is her lack of a sense of purpose, coupled with the fact that she has so little dialogue. The decision to keep Mona Lisa’s life shrouded in mystery ultimately harms the effectiveness of her journey. Audiences don’t need all the answers about where Mona Lisa’s powers came from, how they work, or what her background is, but they need something to hold onto.
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“Look at you dying for an explanation,” a mystic says to the cop (Craig Robinson) investigating Mona Lisa’s escape. It’s almost as if Amirpour is critiquing the audience’s own desire to find some semblance of meaning in what occurs during Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon. The film is caught between a fish-out-of-water tale, scammers on the edge of society, and a story of supernatural revenge. Its brightest moments are when Mona Lisa and Bonnie Belle (Kate Hudson in her finest role to date) are protecting one another, but the film isn’t really interested in their relationship. Another potentially interesting avenue to explore is the budding relationship between Mona Lisa and Bonnie’s son, Charlie (Evan Whitten). It’s endearing to see Mona Lisa give respect and care to a kid when she has never been shown that same kindness. However, the montage of the two of them becoming friends is stylized to resemble the development of a budding romance, which is unsettling.
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon may be lacking in terms of substance, but Hudson’s performance is nearly enough to be worth tuning in for. It’s thrilling to see her absolutely thrive in a role that is so against type. It’s not enough, but that’s par for the course for this film. Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon proves that all style and no substance does have a breaking point.
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