Blonde - 💥💥

Director: Andrew Dominik

Writers: Andrew Dominik (screenplay by) and Joyce Carol Oates (based on the novel by) 

Release Date: 28th September 2022 

Hot Rating: 💥💥

Synopsis: Based on Carol Joyce Oates novel of the same name, Blonde chronicles the life of American celebrity and film star Marilyn Monroe (Ana De Armes) throughout her short and troubled life. Told in an episodic format, it shows her difficult relationship with her mother (Julianne Nicholson) , marriages to Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody) and Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale), all played alongside her growing fame and notoriety. 

Review: Blonde is not a conventional biopic. Its portrayal of its central figure is jagged and grounded in myth as much as it is fact. Its source material most likely worked because of its medium. However, where novelists can twist the truth in a turn of phrase, filmmaking is often a more blunt force for delivery. Andrew Dominik is as blunt as they come, here, with a surreal, altogether nightmarish one note portrayal of Monroe as a sacrificial lamb of American stardom and sexuality. De Armes gives an inspired performance, but the nuances of her role are lost beneath the pomp of the film’s stylistic flair, which only distances audiences further from the film star. Rather than peeling back the layers of Monroe’s mystique, the film does more to build up these layers — the end result is in an indulgent filmmaking exercise at best and, at worse, a repugnant exploitation film. 

Image: YouTube