Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon – REVIEW

This fantasy thriller premiered at the closing of the Underground Film Festival in Sydney recently and proved to be an original and at times unsettling, yet enjoyable, piece of filmmaking.

The film follows a Korean woman named Mona Lisa (Jeon Jong-seo) whose supernatural powers are reignited one blood moon night, hence having the ability to control people’s minds. She escapes from a high security mental facility after being in lock up for over a decade.

Seemingly backward, she travels the seedy streets of New Orleans meeting the tragic locals, absorbing lessons of life along the way. A stripper named Bonnie (Kate Hudson) befriends her once she realises that Mona Lisa’s mind bending powers could be beneficial for her own ravenous financial gain. Consequently, Mona Lisa learns the true meaning of friendship.

There are several highly graphic violence sequences in the earlier scenes which may have some audiences turn away from the screen, and a soundtrack complemented by a selection of the strangest and most entrancing alternative music ever incorporated in a film.

Audiences should realise from the opening scenes that Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is something of a cinematic oddity. Slightly twisted and gritty this drama is also darkly humorous; chuckles of laughter being aroused in the most unusual of scenes.

Both actresses deliver electrifying performances, portraying characters who may be categorised as perverse according to community standards. However, audiences should strangely warm to them, their chance meeting ultimately leading to new beginnings and a whole new outlook on life and relationships.

This is a low budget production that won’t win any awards and may go unnoticed amongst the huge blockbusters, but it does highlight that good quality and entertaining films can be produced on shoe-string budgets.

★★★★

               In Cinemas October 13