REVIEW: ‘Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon’ Is a Stylish Supernatural Ride

It’s been 8 years since Ana Lily Amirpour broke into the scene with the brilliant A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. After a mixed attempt to keep her momentum going with The Bad Batch, she’s back with Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, a horror comedy with enough style and cool characters to overcome its narrative shortcomings.

After spending 12 years confined to a psychiatric institute in a vegetative state, a young North Korean woman named Mona Lisa Lee (Jeon Jong-seo) suddenly uses mysterious psychokinetic powers to control her captors’ bodies and escape. Wandering the streets of New Orleans, the naive Mona Lisa is taken in by a sleazy stripper named Bonnie Belle (Kate Hudson), whose kindness is soon revealed to be opportunism as she uses the girl’s powers to scam people out of their money. But hot on her heels is Harold (Craig Robinson), a police officer whose first confrontation with Mona Lisa ended badly for him.

Innocent Mona Lisa barely speaks and is like a child learning all about this new-found world, and although some people show her kindness, she quickly finds out that the streets are full of jerks. Through her powers, she becomes the leading karma supplier of a film that is very interested in making every bad person have its comeuppance. 

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is a film fueled by empathy whose conventional structure is subverted through clever directorial decisions such as the slowest of chase scenes (an injured Craig Robinson chasing Kate Hudson walking in high heels) or a bunch of drunk street heads offering beer and shoes to Lisa when she most needs the help. And just when you think you start figuring out our hero’s arc, here comes lovely Charlie (a terrific Evan Whitten), Bonnie’s neglected child who’s bullied at school, wears an old Suicidal Tendencies t-shirt, and vents his frustration headbanging to meta. 

Charlie soon becomes Lisa’s friend and tries to warn her of Bonnie’s manipulation; the film’s best scene is not when supernatural powers are involved but when these two outcasts talk in a laundry room. Amirpour, once again subverting, is so good at nurturing this friendship and making you care about little Charlie that you are convinced that running away from home with someone who can barely communicate is the best path for him. It also helps that Kate Hudson totally owns her role: she loudmouths, manipulates, and sleazes her way through the film with a tremendous level of authenticity.

Amirpour’s style is infectious and New Orleans, with its loud streets and tacky partygoers, is the perfect playground for her. The aesthetics evoke a rave party; there’s an abundance of fluorescent lights. Pawel Pogorzelski’s cinematography injects a continuous flow of energy into the film, and boosted by perfect needle drops, the soundtrack is an aural delight that is accurately curated to enhance the mood and storytelling. 

The script is by far the weakest element of the film. The writing lacks depth, its political hints at Lisa’s backstory are forgettable, and its third act throws logic out of the window to deliver a satisfying conclusion. However, both aesthetics and performances are on point, and even when characters are very thinly written, Amirpour makes you enjoy their presence. The best example of this is Fuzz (Ed Skrein), a sketchy DJ dealer who, although not nearly developed enough, is quite fun to be around, at least in the latter part of the film — an unrecognizable Skrein (Alita: Battle Angel) almost steals the show in the role.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon stands out because, despite its premise and familiar beats, it refuses to fully resemble any type of film — whether it’s adventure, superhero, horror, or any other. Instead of CGI, the performances and cinematography sell Lisa’s power; there are no crisp visuals but a proud indie look; characters typically portrayed as villains are actually kind. Amirpour uses her distinctive voice and punk ideals to subvert, charm, and craft a confident B-movie-style fun fest.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon arrives in Theaters, on Digital. and On Demand on September 30.