Debuting at last year’s Sundance Film Festival to huge acclaim, Alejandro Landes’ Monos arrives on the home formats a year on, almost to the delay. In those 12 months, the acclaim for this stunning piece of work has refused to go away, and rightly so. As it is about to reach new audiences via its home release, let’s celebrate just one more time this truly remarkable piece of work.
The film revolves around a group of child soldiers, a gang with the name ‘Monos’ who are residing together in a remote compound. Their days are filled with folly; handling guns, having romantic liaisons, endorsed by their reader – the visiting Messenger (Wilson Salazar), while also performing military training exercises and looking after their new resident cow named Shakira, who should be used for supplying milk. They also have a prisoner, an American named Doctora (Julianne Nicholson), who they playfully poke as she’s held captive deep withing their rural camp.
Things are going relatively well until two lovebirds amongst the eight, Lady (Karen Quintero) and Wolf (Julian Giraldo) decide to take their relationship to the next level. Their consummation sends off a chain of events leading to utter devastation and destruction amongst them.
Landes’ latest is a work of art in the literal sense. Every element, from the superb ensemble cast through to the stunning visuals from Jasper Wolf and particularly the memorable original score by Mica Levi make this a truly unforgettable experience from start to finish. The narrative grips from the off and the running time whips by, the viewer not knowing where proceedings are to be taken next.
While Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite may be grabbing all of the headlines in the landscape of ‘world cinemas’ currently, Landes’ Mono should be your next port of call if you’re interested in immersing yourself in some quality fillm-making not in the English language.
See the movie on the biggest home screen you can with the best audio system also. Crank up the volume, turn off your phones and avoid all distraction. This is remarkable stuff. Powerful, unrelenting, and completely absorbing – deserved of all the acclaim it has received and more.
Monos is available on DVD, Blu-ray and digital on 17th February 2020.
