Dream like bordering on the therapeutic, otherworldly, atmospheric, visually stunning bolstered by alluring landscapes – Monos is a festival in itself, celebrating the art of filmmaking and elevating it to the next level.
Inspired by 60 years of disharmony in Columbia and set in a fictional South American country, Monos is a troubling look at escalating tensions and an all out civil war amongst numerous factions – a deep dive into conflict so to speak with the perils of war looming large on one hand, while the protagonists try to come to terms with their adolescent selves on the other.
Dancing feverishly around a bonfire, trance like and wild, this is a coming of age story as much as it is an unnerving political action thriller.
Alejandro Landes (the director) succinctly sums it up in one of his interviews : “That’s what cinema has, it appeals to your conscience like a story does but also your subconscious kind of like dreams do. So the idea was to live this politically sensitive allegory but like a dream.”