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Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon: A superhero movie which is not about superpowers

The purpose of the film is lost amidst the colourful and neon-lit nights of vibrant New Orleans

3/5rating
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon: A superhero movie which is not about superpowers

Last Updated: 11.19 AM, Jan 31, 2023

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Story: A girl runs away from a mental institution after injuring staff members with her supernatural powers. She is picked up by a single mother who works as an exotic dancer in a club in New Orleans. Together they start robbing people which draws the attention of a police officer.

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Review: Filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour’s films often mirror her eccentric sense of humour and observant nature. Her debut feature A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, which she described as "the first Iranian vampire spaghetti western", demonstrated the kind of films to be expected from her. Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon marks her third feature film and treads along the same lines of idiosyncrasies as her earlier releases.

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Starting on an eerie note with the uncanny Louisiana swamps, the frame shifts inside a mental institution where Mona Lisa Lee, a young girl is trapped in one of the rooms wearing a straitjacket. She seems to possess some kind of power which is never really explained. However, she can control people and make them do things just by looking at them. She has been at this institution for a decade and she finally escapes in the dead of the night after hurting two staff members with her supernatural powers. The moon which shines above her becomes her guiding light and she ends up in New Orleans, meeting strangers along the way. One of them is Fuzz, a random guy outside a deli who buys her food and mistakes her straitjacket to be a contemporary fashion piece. It is her bizarre run-in with a police officer named Harold which leads to her meeting Bonnie Belle, a single mother who works as an exotic dancer. Realising Mona Lisa’s gifts, Bonnie decides to use her to hustle people out of money.

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As the film progresses the plot takes a backseat and it's the characters who shine. In Amirpour’s universe, no one is particularly good or bad, nevertheless, there is a realistic portrayal of the frailties of humanity. Both Kate Hudson and Craig Robinson are excellent in their respective roles; Hudson’s charisma is illustrated through the character of Bonnie Belle, who is an avid addict of hustle culture, and Robinson an idealistic police officer whose confrontation with the hypnotic powers of Mona Lisa changed him forever. It is Jun Jong-Seo who plays the quiet but intimidating Mona Lisa that impresses the most. Being in a mental institution for a decade, devoid of any meaningful human connection and independence, her lack of words and piercing eyes are enough to flesh out her character. Her relationship with Bonnie’s son Charlie discerns as the first genuine friendship she has had in a long time. The city provides the beautiful visuals and the distinctive aesthetic found in Amirpour’s films. The Tarintinoesque inspiration is evident through the exceptional cinematography done by Pawel Pogorzelski.

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Verdict: Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is an entertaining film with vibrant visuals and equally vibrant characters, but the frail conclusion takes away some of its gleams. Filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour continues to showcase her signature style in the film, albeit with a blurred premise which fails to convincingly define the story.

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