Monica

Acceptance, reconciliation and forgiveness are arguably among the hardest feelings for many of us to deal with, but coming to terms with them is by no means impossible. When Monica (Trace Lysette), a transgender woman kicked out by her family as an adolescent, leaves her Midwestern home and heads to California to start a new life, she struggles to get by. And, after years of effort, she indeed manages to work it out for the most part. But, years later, when Monicas sister-in-law (Emily Browning) informs her that her long-estranged mother (Patricia Clarkson) is terminally ill, shes torn about what to do. Should she ignore the news or step up as a dutiful child? She reluctantly relents and heads back to Ohio to help care for the woman who thr...

Trace Lysette is quite effective here as the eponymous woman who returns to her family to help care for her terminally ill mother "Eugenia" (Patricia Clarkson). She's a trans woman, is "Monica", and it's been more than twenty years since she left. Needless to say, there are adjustments a-plenty to be made by all concerned, and given the imminence of the impending demise, the story gains an added potency putting things and erstwhile priorities into sharp new perspective. Gradually we discover that the scenario of estrangement wasn't caused they way we might have expected, and as the narrative develops we realise that lives have been traumatic for all concerned over the intervening decades. What's also pretty clear from the outset is that "Mo...