Anyone who gravitated towards the fantastic A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night will have been curious about the career trajectory of Ana Lily Amirpour.
Outside of 2016’s The Bad Batch, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is Amirpour’s latest feature alongside various television directing gigs.
Played as more of a dark satire, this again carries Amirpour’s razor-sharp humour with a twinge of the supernatural sprinkled in there.
We follow the journey of the titular Mona Lisa, who escapes a mental institution using a unique method of telepathy.
From here chaos ensues as she navigates a world she simply doesn’t understand. A chance encounter with Kate Hudson’s Bonnie changes her journey as she becomes exploited for her ability.
Mona Lisa does befriend Bonnie’s son Charlie who is probably ahead of her intellectually and helps to teach her about the world.
As you can probably guess the cast is absolutely stacked, with Craig Robinson putting in a great performance as local police officer Harold and Ed Skrein offering some laughs as local wannabe gangster Fuzz.
Evan Whitten is a revelation as the headstrong and metal-loving Charlie, with Jeon Jong-seo leading the way as Mona Lisa.
Amirpour’s direction is slick and even when things get darker with a physical assault to Bonnie, it doesn’t feel exploitative.
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is a must-see and shows that Ana Lily Amirpour is one of the most watchable creators in genre cinema at the moment.
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