IFC Films
When discussing a film like Monica—the latest movie from Italian auteur Andrea Pallaoro, starring Trace Lysette as a woman who returns home to take care of her estranged, ailing mother who no longer recognizes her—it’s difficult to decide where to start. The film is a layered and highly emotional piece of work, which unfolds with an unhurried, graceful pace. Those are wonderful aspects that memorably adorn the experience of watching Monica. But they also ensure that new questions, thoughts, and ruminations about it will continue to arise, long after the house lights have gone up.
Monica, who, like Lysette, is a trans woman, left home after her parents told her that they wanted nothing to do with her. Years later, she boldly chooses to pivot away from the life that she built for herself by returning home. The film quietly explores Monica’s decision to go home and subsequent grappling with thrusting herself into her own past, quite literally coming face-to-face with her trauma. But it doesn’t treat Monica’s experience like melodramatic Oscar-bait fodder either. Monica is the rare film about the trans experience that’s crafted gently, intending not to exploit its enchanting star but, rather, imbue its story with her lived knowledge.
When I speak to Lysette over Zoom, prior to Monica’s theatrical release this weekend, I can feel her warmth through the screen—despite the fact that thousands of miles and millions of megapixels stand between us. Lysette is extremely soft-spoken and considers all of her words carefully, like she’s deciding which thought to pluck out from a vast array of ideas before her. When I ask her about what Monica means to her, at a moment when there is a full-on legislative assault against trans people, Lysette (who has been actively speaking out against political interference with trans folks) pauses. “I’m trying to make sense of this moment in my career, this hard-fought win in my own personal journey, that’s coinciding with this really, really crazy and dark time for trans people as a whole,” she says, after a beat. “I guess I’m just sitting with the duality of all of that.”