MONICA

Director: Andrea Pallaoro

2023, 110min., R

Screenwriter: Andrea Pallaoro, Orlando Tirado

Cast: Emily Browning Patricia Clarkson Trace Lysette Adriana Barraza Joshua Close Jean Zarzour Brittany Picard Bobby Easley

 

June’s Queer Thursdays selection features a breakthrough performance by Trace Lysette, a trans actor and activist who got her start in the New York underground ball culture scene. Monica is an intimate portrait of a woman who, for the first time in 20 years, returns home to the Midwest to take care of her ailing mother. Through the themes of abandonment, aging, rejection, acceptance and forgiveness, we get to know Monica and her world made of pain, fear but also courage. A journey through the needs and desires of a woman who opens a cognitive look at the human condition. “ a beautifully nuanced drama that feels unique and universal, featuring what will surely go down as one of the best performances of 2023.” – Peter Sobczinsky, RobertEbert.com