User reviews

This movie is about vibes. Wow. An authentic trip, not without flaws, but always with a lot of personality and originality, with no fear of referencing past decades and even using some camp in a ridiculous way.

It's the 3rd movie I've seen with Jeon Jong-seo and there's little doubt to me that she's a star, capable of filling the screen and dominating every scene she is in. In this film, she is once again mesmerizing (ok, ok...) and manages to captivate us with her aura of mystery combined with her innocence.

I have to see The Bad Batch - some reviews have made me postpone this experience - but this is another film that demonstrates how unique Ana Lily Amirpour is, without fear of doing something different and taking risks. The soundtrack of this film is something sensational and all the editing options taken make it seem like we are on an authentic trip. The cinematography is fantastic and is always pleasant to look to the screen full of colours and life.

The script is not as strong as it would be desirable and many questions remain unanswered, but this is a commendable experience, full of style, attitude, and striking scenes that deserve to be much more talked about than it has been.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is pretty cool and original movie. I love the premise and the setup. It has a distinct visual style and some interesting music to further differentiate itself.

I enjoyed all of the characters, even the bad ones. It has a good cast giving good performances. Kate Hudson is nearly unrecognizable. And the child actor does a great job playing endearing. I'm normally annoyed by child characters, but he made me root for him.

The reason I didn't rate this higher is because it doesn't seem like it has anywhere to go past the premise and setup. I liked the conclusion but it doesn't feel like it escalates enough through the middle part.

But I think I would watch this a second time and would definitely be interested in a sequel.

(1 viewing, 7/16/2024)

... which really is just as rare it sounds. If you missed the 70s through an accident of birth, this little gem can remedy that. From literally the first frame of the film (which immediately bypasses the standard, sequential, "Dramatic Acts") it is clear that this is more a theme park ride, and less a traditional narrative. Director Ana Amirpour, known for her love of reversing and twisting traditional gender roles, seems to delight in this story of an asylum inmate (whose crimes are never fully explained) who also has a super power (the origins of which are also never fully explained); and who -- in a bizarre twist on the PINOCCHIO tale -- just wants to a regular girl. Good luck with that. The first lesson the audience learns about the young lady is, never offer her a choice between "the easy way and the hard way." You won't like her pick. Amirpour is one of a handful of indie auteurs who has a true genius for color and scene setting. Which only adds to the experience. If you keep your expectations in check, a very watchable effort. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I liked it. Acting decent, the boy especially was great. Skrein always good value. And it looked pretty good too. I liked the dreamy, trippy lighting and weird angles. The over all message is also a good one. Without giving too much away...treat those around you how you would like to be treated.

For the reviewer who said nothing happens in the first 30 mins and acting was rubbish....what film did you watch? In the first 30 mins a girl uses her powers to escape a mental asylum, then has a run in with drug dealer, then a comic relief cop, then sees a stripper fight + friendship build and use her special powers accordingly through out...what you were doing when all that was happening? And that same reviewer also said there was no story...is that a joke? Every single person in this movie goes on their own journey with their own story having a start and finish until the bittersweet end of the movie.... I genuinely dont know what movie that reviewer watched.

I get it that these kind of lowish budget trippy movies arent for everyone but saying nothing happens or that theres no story is just silly.

Another reviewer compared this movie to those 70s psychedelic movies and I think they are spot on. I mean has anyone seen tommy? Its even comparable to blade runner too in the look and feel of it.

I also think some of ten star reviews are by family of the makers or by people who have never seen a movie before. That aside this is a pretty solid 6/10.

DO NOT listen to the negative reviewers, give it a watch.. and watch until the end to get the most out of the story and journey of characters.

Although almost completely void of any special effects, this movie is saturated with auditory and visual aesthetics, which are mostly centered around night life, and viewed through the realistic perspective of a wide angle lens, that isn't shy of getting too close and personal.

Plot is original, enjoyable and entirely basic, with emphasis given to "enjoyable", there are no points of high tension, just different music tracks the characters seem to 'swim' through as if guiding the scene. In a very chill fashion, almost dream-like.

The character performance is incredibly realistic, bold, and does a great job in making you view the daily happenings of their extraordinary lives in their original points of view.

Overall, a very entertaining watch. And listen.

I enjoyed this movie to the point I watched it twice on Amazon Prime. I'd watch it thrice if there was a French dub (I wanted to try it). The highlight of the movie is the soundtrack, in my opinion. The licensed tracks are clearly carefully curated to create a nocturnal, electronic-infused vibe. In fact, most of the movie is filmed at night. It has some beautiful shots of New Orleans at night and the film definitely goes for something more stylized than realistic. It's what I would call a traditional movie. 3 acts, beginning, middle and end. No pretentions, no sequel-bait, just a nice little story that explains enough about its characters and world.

The cast does a good job in my opinion. The movie isn't overly gory or gritty so don't go expecting a slasher. It has a cool concept of a girl who is some kind of ESPer (like the psychic kids in Akira). She can control people with her mind similar to some form of hypnosis and after escaping a mental institution she was held in, she goes out and about finding people along her way and a few hijinks ensue. (Don't worry, there are no spoilers here, this is pretty much the premise and synopsis).

It's a good little movie that doesn't last that long, it's roughly 1h40mins. I found it rather curious, endearing, mysterious and weird enough to warrant a second or even a third watch. I wasn't expecting to like it, but somehow I did. This unasuming movie found its way into my heart, it appears. Give it a try, dear IMDB wanderer. I think you might have a good time if you fancy the weird and mysterious.

This was all style with very little substance. Writer and director Ana Lily Amirpour's choice of style even started getting annoying real quick with the constant convex fish-eye lens filming, loud overbearing soundtrack and score, and all the bedazzled over-contrasted colors. Then you still have to sit through almost two hours of Amirpour's disjointed, unfocused, underdeveloped and sluggish narrative, that also lacks giving any understanding of the protagonist, of whom Amirpour also failed to direct properly. When you finally get to the end of the movie, you'll roll your eyes in disappointment from the boring unresolved ending, and all the questions you'll still have.

This indie like flick shows you can take a minimal plot, minimal lines from the main character Mona Lisa, combine it with good acting and make a hit to rival Hollywood blockbusters. Kate Hudson was bomb also, totally didn't expect to see her in this sort of role, her best performance since Fools Gold. It was one of those unexpected and much appreciated movies, glad I took a chance. I loved that the questionable parts were not overly explained, I like making my own assumptions of what's happening, it makes it personal. As a 90's raver I was digging the soundtrack, the look & the overall feel of the whole movie. Made me wanna get out the blacklight & drop a tab lol Well done to the writer & director. Thank you sirs may I have another? See you in the sequel, I hope!

Monalisa's day out in New Orleans is a fantasy trip of light sound and music. There is not much story, as the journey is the plot.

The opening scenes in the Mental Hospital set the stage immediately and raised expectations beyond what was delivered, however watch Monalisa for the experience. For the visual show with accompanying beat and the awakening of an unknown force on a Blood Moon in the south.

There was potential for so much more, Bourbon St never looked so clean and the characters so normal. I assume budget and Covid took their toll.

Great supporting roles from Kate Hudson and son and some other quirky characters.

Not a masterpiece but a koool adventure.

The originality of the idea and its execution is what makes this a fun watch. You won't know where the story is going for at least half of the movie.

I personally would have liked a little more background on Mona Lisa, but it doesn't add or subtract from the plot.

I assumed that the moon would have something to do with her powers, but the story does not dwell too much on the whys and whens.

My favorite part though would have to be Mona's expressions on the flight. That there is some real good acting. I wasn't surprised when I looked Jeon Jong-seo up and found out that she was in "Burning" and "The Call." Both are worth checking out.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, a title that doesn't sound like quality, yet it was a enjoyable movie to follow. Easy to watch and entertaining. The story is simple, not really fantasy as advertised, more a mystery than anything else. The cinematography is the best thing about this movie. Interesting camerawork and good editing. The soundtrack on the other hand is a combination of good music with sometimes the opposite, boring songs and sound effects. But I enjoyed most of the chosen songs. The whole cast did a good job playing their interesting characters. Kate Hudson still looks good for her age. Overall a good movie if you looking for an easy watch.

This movie is only an hour and forty two minutes long, but after 30 minutes nothing had happened yet. I'm all for the suspension of belief, but nothing in the first ten minutes even made a little bit of sense. It was just plain stupid The acting was terrible, the pace was non-existent, and is it meant to be horror? Is it meant to be horror? Is it meant to be horror comedy? Because it is none of those things. It feels like some kind of student project, except students could do it better because they'd probably remember to include a script or a story of some sort.

This is a big fat no. We will not be making it to the end.

I know I haven't. I think I can safely say Amirpour's first film was a fluke. This and a the Bad Bunch are trying too hard to seem what? Edgy? Avant garde? Interesting? I would be curious what she could do with a script she didn't write. She has good ideas but can't execute them to the page. The most interesting character might have been Fluff (Ed Skien) and he was barely there. What scent is Kate Hudson doing? It's not NOLA that's for sure. Why do it and not explain it?

You can not have a plot, if you have character. You can have bad writing if you have a good actor. You can wander aimlessly- her 1st feature did- if you have something to say. Sadly, this has none of that.

Set in New Orleans, Lousiana, a disturbed institutionalized woman, Mona Lisa Lee (Jun Jong-seo), escapes from her institution after developing powers that allow her to control those who look into her eyes. Mona Lisa wanders around through the streets of New Orleans and finds help from various residents who offer her food or shoes until eventually she comes across dancer Bonnie "Bonnie Belle" Hunt (Kate Hudson) whom Mona Lisa saves from a brawl by taking control of the assailant. Realizing the powers could be useful, Bonnie has Mona Lisa stay with her and her precocious son Charlie (Evan Whitten) who feels unwanted in his mother's life and strikes up a friendship with Mona Lisa. Mona Lisa is brought by Bonnie to the club where she dances where using Mona Lisa's powers she begins raking in exorbitant amounts of money from unwilling patrons as well as doing similar schemes with ATM users. Meanwhile Officer Harold (Craig Robinson) is hellbent on pursuing Mona Lisa after she forced him to shoot his own leg.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is the latest film from Ana Lily Amirpour who scored a big hit with her debut film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and then stumbled in her follow-up film The Bad Batch which received a more divided response from critics and audiences with individual parts given praise while the whole tended to garner less than ecstatic results (myself included as I didn't like The Bad Batch). The movie began production in 2019 and now has been released by Saban Films on digital platforms and hopefully people discover this film because Amirpour creates a visually dazzling fever dream of a movie that shares some thematic DNA with A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, but manages to forge its own identity in a unique way.

Much like how A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was inspired by Spaghetti Westerns and Vampire films and Bad Batch inspired by 70s drive-in Cannibal and Post-Apocalyptic films, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon mines influences from fantasy and sci-fi thrillers of the 80s and 90s with the film capturing the aesthetic of films such The Terminator, Maniac Cop, Warlock or Repo Man where you had films taking place in urban vice filled environments but throwing in some kind of supernatural or sci-fi twist. The movie has a lot of fun subverting the tropes of those kinds of films as Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon doesn't have the nihilistic and cynical streak some of those films had with Mona Lisa's first encounter after she escapes the mental institution almost being a takeoff on the "your clothes, give them to me" scene from The Terminator except in that film where it was meant to be intimidating/darkly humorous, her Mona Lisa is given a pair of shoes by the group in a display of altruism that is uncharacteristically present throughout the film. The movie does still skirt the lines of morality as Mona Lisa's powers do involve taking control of others and the "friendship" she gets from Bonnie Belle is one of convenience and opportunity, but there's a strong human core to this film giving the sense the film is equal parts a creation of atmosphere as well as a character piece.

Jun Jong-seo of 2018's Burning and 2020's The Call is very good in the lead role as Mona Lisa and while she is a threatening presence in the film, there's also a level of emotional vulnerability that makes us empathize with her as she's a broken character who's now been given this extraordinary power while not fully understanding the world. Kate Hudson also is quite good in an against type performance as a hard scrabble exotic dancer who's very flawed as a character especially in her relationship with Mona Lisa and her son Charlie, but there are layers to the character and she's not a two-dimensional antagonist (really no one is). Craig Robinson is also very good as Officer Harold who tries to find Mona Lisa and his driven determination to bring her to justice coupled with his downright awful look from getting shot in the leg (but in the least bad way for whatever that's worth) to then having to do a foot chase after Mona Lisa and Bonnie in one of the film's darkly humorous moments. But the standout performance bar none was in Evan Whitten who plays Charlie and he's primarily known for his TV work such as doing an arc on The Resident and playing Young Elliot in the series Mr. Robot. Whitten does really well in the film and his friendship with Mona Lisa Lee is the kind of emotional core I wanted to grab onto but was lacking in The Bad Batch. Amirpour does a good job of building that relationship and she kind of sets it up as a surrogate brother/sister dynamic that makes you emotionally invested.

I really enjoyed Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon and think it's a great reminder of what a promising talent Amirpour is as a writer/director after The Bad Batch disappointed (at least for me). While there are more than a few shades of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night in the film's DNA, the movie does a strong enough job to stand on its own and makes a strong companion piece to Amirpour's debut film.

So let's do the good list first. The plot is intriguing, makes you wonder about her origin. Her super power adds some major point to the story line. Everybody loves super powers. And mind control is like top 10 of the coolest ones. The acting is great, I don't know the main actress, but she can definitely act.

Sadly, I have to do the bad list also. There was no clear background story of the main character. I think that's a major downside of this movie. Cause I'm pretty sure the audience would definitely want to learn about it. And then nearing the ending, it's clear that this story doesn't have a closure. I don't know why they made the movie this way. Maybe it's a setup for a sequel or even a prequel? I don't know, maybe they're gonna make them? Fingers crossed.

'Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon' tells the story of how Mona Lee (Jeon Jong-seo) escapes a mental asylum using her psychokinetic powers and ventures into New Orleans. Mona meets Bonnie (Kate Hudson), a stripper with a heart of tarnished gold, who takes her in, but after a series of bizarre easy-money encounters, Officer Harold (Craig Robinson) takes an interest in returning Mona to the hospital.

Decently shot and acted! Mona is essentially a blank persona influenced by her surroundings, which is engaging to see how her character evolves throughout the story. The flow is decent, but where the faults lie is in the script and the plot - they really don't go anywhere. Mona's origin (why she is in the mental home to begin with), the significance of the moon, and why some supporting characters are even written in makes the culmination of the film a bit of a curiosity.

Worth a once over.

So I saw the cast and premise and thought we could be on a winner here. Could I be more wrong, what the hell is it? The acting is appalling, the direction is as if it's a school project written by someone below the age of ten. The actors are so miscast it's hard to fathom any professional casting director thinking they were right for the role.

However the ultimate crime is the director thinking her choice of music throughout the movie is somehow atmospheric and clever, let me tell her its hideously bad.

How Ana Lily Amirpour got a gig after her last movie is amazing, it can only be a hope that she returns to the oddness of her debut film. Stop trying to be deliberately weird and get back to directing.

In slick, original drama-thriller "Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon" Jeon Jong-seo escapes a mental asylum to New Orleans' seedy, steamy side where she's taken in by the 'colourful' likes of street-punk Ed Skrein, skanky exotic dancer Kate Hudson, & Hudson's kid Evan Whitten... as tired beat cop Craig Robinson hunts her down. Writer / director Ana Lily Amirpour's screenplay is unexpected, fresh & with terrific characters (tho some MAY bemoan the non-traditional plot) and she elicits superb performances (esp the understatedly outstanding Jong-seo) against a richly stylish backdrop (inc pulsating soundtrack). Excellent film-making from an upcoming potential master.

Well, what's left to say here, except that I've never given 6 points in such a good mood.

This film is definitely a B-movie. But still, it was surprisingly pleasant to watch. Sure, some dialog is too flat, quite a few camera shots too long or, depending on the case, not slow enough. Unfortunately, the whole thing always seems a bit undecided. But somehow on the other hand the whole thing has a pleasant energy, so that in the end you don't get angry about the wasted time of watching it. The mood is pointing ti the right direction. And indeed I wish Ana Lily Amirpour that she manages to get to the point with one of her next films. Then it would be very good indeed.

What struck me most about this movie was the fantastic atmosphere: the eye for detail and how deeply human all the people were. Some used each other, others were genuinely kind, but most really just seemed to act as any of us would given their circumstances. Only when watching this movie did I realize how rare that is in movies. Mona Lisa is certainly a trip on its own and is probably not for everyone, but I give it a big thumbs up. It's not trying to come up with a deep message, but it's for sure a refreshing take on a standard plot. And it gave me a renewed sense of love for humankind and made me want to visit New Orleans. Just watch it, accept it, let it wash over you and be happy.

Mona Lisa Lee is a patient in a mental institution near New Orleans. After silently enduring abusive treatment, she uses her telepathic powers to escape, injuring several workers who stand in her way. Wandering the streets aimlessly at night, she encounters a variety of strangers, some of whom are hostile or threatening. Her strange behavior brings her to the attention of a police officer named Officer Harold, who attempts to arrest her. He uses his powers to shoot her in the knee.

Later, she saves a woman named Bonnie Bell who is getting punched in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. Bonnie Bell, a dancer who is a single mother, befriends Mona Lisa and takes her home. Mona bonds with Bonnie's young son, Charlie.

Bonnie abuses Mona Lisa's power to rob a man at an ATM and extort customers at a nightclub where she dances. Mona Lisa's actions bring her to the attention of Officer Harold, as he continues to investigate. When she confronts two women, Bonnie's actions cause Mona Lisa to see through her and she ends the friendship. Bonnie is attacked by a group of men alone and severely beaten.

Mona Lisa decides to leave town and offers to take Charlie with her. Charlie accepts. When they are almost arrested by Officer Harold at the airport, Charlie creates a distraction so that Mona Lisa can escape.