Circumstance

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2020)

Charlize Theron delivers an unforgettable portrayal of Aileen Wuornos in Monster. I put off watching this film for quite a while, largely deterred by the film´s cover, which made me think that it was going to be something along the lines of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, perhaps the most disturbing story of a murderer ever committed to film.
Far from it, in fact. Monster is an epic tragedy about a woman who was abused, beaten, bruised, and nearly broken throughout her solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short life. Does that excuse her ¨bad choices¨? No, of course not. Should we not have some compassion also for her victims? Yes, of course. But this film compels one to sympathize with the killer of several men, ironically enough, because we see how very desperate she was to find some source of goodness and joy in her miserable life. Tragedy with a capital ¨T¨.
I must say that I feel also some regret for the families of Wuornos´s victims, who have now been forever etched into popular cultural history as johns. Not all of them were rapists. Perhaps the biggest lesson of all here is that one should be wary of picking up hitchhikers--regardless of gender--because you never know where people have been or where they are going.
Incredibly sad story. Incredible performance by Chalize Theron, who we now know is not just another pretty face. She really dug deep to pull this one off so convincingly. Brava!