Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: Jeon Jong-Seo, Kate Hudson, Craig Robinson, Ed Skrein, Evan Whitten, Lauren Bowles, Serene Lee, Cory Roberts, Kyler Porche, Michael Carollo, Anthony Reynolds, Jennifer Vo, Altonio Jackson, Donna Duplantier, Rosha Washington, Joshua Shane Brooks, Tiffany Black, Amy Le, Mia Tillman, Renell Gibbs, Sylvia Grace Crim, Janes W. Evermore, Colby Boothman, Kent Shocknek, Ritchie Montgomery.
To be able to control someone’s actions by a sheer force of will, a power that is locked in the mind, which will leave the victim unsettled, unfocused, and disturbed that they have been induced, manipulated easily, is one ripe within the annals of science fiction; and yet it is only a step taken further than those whose own intent, that of the narcissist that we have been urged to address and steer away from via the internet and well meaning friends.
Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon explores the emotion of a young woman whose life is controlled by outside forces, powers to which she is denied using until she escapes incarceration in a mental facility, and how manipulation can come in any form and used for either good or ill.
The tone of the film is set by its disturbing use of colour, the bright neon lights that attract the unwary and the seasoned, seedy player alike, drawing them into the underbelly of human responses via lap dances and criminality, the harshness of bright white light in scenes involving businesses on the periphery, the late night shops and diners, and the dichotomy of the darkness that comes from the alleyways and the fear of those that Mona Lisa Lee encounters.
Whilst Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon is not a film you would make a bee line for to watch a second time, it throws up interesting questions on psyche, on influence, and how anyone is capable of being the impacting source for another to veer off the path of individual control.
With Kate Hudson, Ed Skrein, and Craig Robinson adding their distinctive influence on Ana Lily Amirpour’s film, Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon falls neatly into the category of films you should allow yourself to see, even if for the visual aspect of interpretation, of seeing the world through the eyes of those who believe they have it all under control, and yet are but pawns to another’s will.
Ian D. Hall