Monica
Trans woman Monica (Trace Lysette, “Transparent”) returns to her childhood home to take care of her ailing mother (Oscar® nominee Patricia Clarkson), coming to terms with the fractured family she left behind so many years ago.
Director/Writer/Producer Andrea Pallaoro scheduled to attend.
Monica returns home for the first time after a long absence. Finding her mother and the rest of her family, from whom she had distanced herself as a teenager, she embarks on a journey through her pain, fears, needs, and desires until she discovers within herself the strength to heal the wounds of her own past. The film offers an intimate portrait of a woman and explores the universal themes of abandonment and acceptance, redemption, and forgiveness. And it's the statuesque beauty of Monica, pervasive and looming, that dominates everything, so much so that her imposing body fills every shot: her face, her red hair, her back, her hands, her neck. A body that caused her pain. Monica hasn't seen her mother for years, ever since she accompanied her to a bus stop, unable to be near her after discovering her son wanted to be a woman. Yet now her mother is seriously ill, and Monica can't help but come back to her, with her cumbersome body. She finds her lucid at times and observes her, standing next to her and conquering precisely through physical contact a closeness that always seemed lost. The two unknown and diametrically opposed bodies—Monica's (Trace Lysette) as plastic as her mother's (Patricia Clarkson) is fragile. They come closer by simply allowing themselves the possibility of being there without perhaps needing to know more.
- Director: Andrea Pallaoro
- Principal Cast: Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Joshua Close
- Country: USA, Italy
- Year: 2022
- Running Time: 106 min.
- Producer: Christina Dow, Eleonora Granata-Jenkinson, Andrea Pallaoro, Gina Resnick
- Screenplay: Andrea Pallaoro, Orlando Tirado
- Cinematographers: Katelin Arizmendi
- Editors: Paola Freddi
- Website: Official Film Website
- Awards: Venice Film Festival 2022 (ARCA CinemaGiovani Award: Best Italian Film)
- Filmography: Hannah (2017), Medeas (2013)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: IFC Films
- International Sales: The Exchange