Monos (2019)
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:34 pm
Foreign film, although I have no idea what country. It clearly takes place in South America. Maybe Columbia? Subtitles alert!
A group of kids are trained as revolutionary soldiers.
Completely off track side note before I get into the rest of the plot: Their leader is a little person who actually lived that life. Not the film's story, but he was a child soldier in real life. (Found that out during some research about the movie.) Tough mother fucker too. I wouldn't mess with him. He's honestly the best part of the film. Completely believable, but just enough not believable (probably because of preconceived notions about how little people are typically used) that you're not 100% sure.
Ok, so they have an American doctor as a hostage and are trying to use her to negotiate when they are loaned a cow. That's when shit goes south. What follows is pretty much "Lord of the Flies", as others have pointed out. I've also heard "Red Dawn", but while there is a montage scene that resembles that, nothing, and I mean nothing, else resembles that film.
The film is beautifully shot and very well acted, but the pacing is a mess. It's rather slow, and the filmmakers clearly have no problem showing you kids acting like they're adults...which made me uncomfortable as a viewer. Based on internet comments, I'm not alone. The filmmakers try to deliver some powerful messages about childhood lost, war, and so on, but it's all lost in delivery.
Props to Julianne Nicholson who steals every scene she's in.
It's an interesting movie to watch, but it's flawed and will probably bore most people.
A group of kids are trained as revolutionary soldiers.
Completely off track side note before I get into the rest of the plot: Their leader is a little person who actually lived that life. Not the film's story, but he was a child soldier in real life. (Found that out during some research about the movie.) Tough mother fucker too. I wouldn't mess with him. He's honestly the best part of the film. Completely believable, but just enough not believable (probably because of preconceived notions about how little people are typically used) that you're not 100% sure.
Ok, so they have an American doctor as a hostage and are trying to use her to negotiate when they are loaned a cow. That's when shit goes south. What follows is pretty much "Lord of the Flies", as others have pointed out. I've also heard "Red Dawn", but while there is a montage scene that resembles that, nothing, and I mean nothing, else resembles that film.
The film is beautifully shot and very well acted, but the pacing is a mess. It's rather slow, and the filmmakers clearly have no problem showing you kids acting like they're adults...which made me uncomfortable as a viewer. Based on internet comments, I'm not alone. The filmmakers try to deliver some powerful messages about childhood lost, war, and so on, but it's all lost in delivery.
Props to Julianne Nicholson who steals every scene she's in.
It's an interesting movie to watch, but it's flawed and will probably bore most people.
