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A film that “raises the bar for trans stories onscreen,” MONICA opens Friday at the Laemmle Claremont, Glendale, Monica Film Center and NoHo.

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Monica is an intimate portrait of a woman who returns home after a long absence to confront the wounds of her past. Reconnecting with her mother and the rest of her family for the first time since leaving as a teenager, Monica embarks on a path of healing and acceptance. The film delves into her internal world and state of mind, her pain and fears, her needs and desires, to explore the universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness.

Monica marks a major first foray into U.S. theaters for filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro, a fresh new voice in Italian cinema who has been making a stir with audiences overseas. A collaboration between breakout star Trace Lysette (Transparent), Oscar nominee Patricia Clarkson, and Emily Browning, the film stood out at last year’s Venice Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion, Queer Lion, and won the Arca CinemaGiovani Award for best Italian Feature before eventually screening in competition at major film festivals in Chicago, Annecy, and Warsaw.

Critical praise for Monica has been almost universal:

“Monica raises the bar for trans stories onscreen, and Lysette takes her rightful place as its muse.” ~ Jude Dry, indieWire

“With uncommon sensitivity toward the interior lives of its characters, as well as to the shifting codes of trans representation, Monica is a film about making amends, where the person who deserves the apology is also the one doing all the work.” ~ Peter Debruge, Variety
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“Monica is an intimate look at the complexity of grief, reconciliation and family.” ~ Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times
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A film that "raises the bar for trans stories onscreen," MONICA opens Friday at the Laemmle Claremont, Glendale, Monica Film Center and NoHo.

“A quiet, heartfelt, and beautifully nuanced drama that feels unique and universal.” ~ Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com

“Director Andrea Pallaoro doesn’t burden this delicate tale of reconciliation with long monologues or extensive back stories, and the performances are compelling in their restraint.” Teo Bugbee, New York Times

A film that "raises the bar for trans stories onscreen," MONICA opens Friday at the Laemmle Claremont, Glendale, Monica Film Center and NoHo.

“Placing a uniquely trans story in the center of a well-worn road creates a path to a new sentiment to be granted to a tale that many people have and will face in their life.” ~ Niko Stratis, Autostraddle
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“Monica is a wondrous work in terms of painting with light, in which the select shadows tell their own story.” ~ Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com

A film that "raises the bar for trans stories onscreen," MONICA opens Friday at the Laemmle Claremont, Glendale, Monica Film Center and NoHo.

“Director and co-writer Andrea Pallaoro banishes easy sentiment and proselytising in this touching film, allowing the audience to take a journey with the titular Monica and discover her story on the way.” ~ Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International

“A subtle, bold and thoroughly feminine political thriller,” CHILE ’76 opens May 19 at the Royal.

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Chile ‘76, director Manuela Martelli’s second feature film, is set during the early days of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. It builds from quiet character study to gripping suspense thriller as it explores one woman’s precarious flirtation with political engagement. We open the film on Friday, May 19 at the Royal.
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“An intimate psychosocial character study that unfolds at a national scale. This isn’t a story about one affluent woman’s gradual radicalization against authoritarianism, it’s a story about the illusion of not taking sides.” ~ David Ehrlich, indieWire

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“Martelli’s film demonstrates remarkable skill in reconstructing he time period, giving consideration both to recreating the appearance of the era and its emotional tenor.” ~ Teo Bugbee, New York Times

 "A subtle, bold and thoroughly feminine political thriller," CHILE '76 opens May 19 at the Royal.

“At all times, and in every way, Chile ’76 is a film defined by layers, with pleasant everyday facades masking a dark, corrupt authoritarian underbelly.” ~ Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
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“What begins as a muted marital melodrama slowly boils into a restrained political thriller, with an ease and skill all the more impressive in a first feature.” ~ Manuel Betancourt, Variety

"A subtle, bold and thoroughly feminine political thriller," CHILE '76 opens May 19 at the Royal.

“Küppenheim is terrific, her precision and restraint in the role drawing us into the story. Mariá Portugal’s analogue electronic score is eerily atmospheric.” ~ Wendy Ide, Guardian

“An outstanding performance from Aline Küppenheim is the driving force in this engrossing suspense drama-thriller about an elegant and prosperous woman being drawn into Chile’s anti-Pinochet resistance in 1976.” ~ Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

“A subtle, bold and thoroughly feminine political thriller.” ~ Marina Ashioti, Little White Lies

 

“Wincingly funny, stealthily emotional,” Kelly Reichardt’s SHOWING UP opens Friday.

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Oregonian filmmaker Kelly Reichardt’s fourth collaboration with actress Michelle Williams is a quietly brilliant and funny portrait of an artist and her MFA milieu. It’s also further confirmation that Williams, who can manifest characters as varied as Marilyn Monroe, Mitzi Fabelman, Gwen Verdon and now Lizzy of Showing Up, is a talent as rare as the finest actors in the language, including Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep. We open the film this Friday at the Monica Film Center and Laemmle Glendale, April 28 at the NoHo, and May 5 at the Newhall and Claremont.

“Reichardt reflects an abiding respect for artists and their freedom to explore and process while Williams inhabits the soul of a creative being in every frame and every second.” ~ Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“The on-the-surface modesty of Showing Up is a kind of sorcery. It’s in the days afterward, when you’ve left its spell and gone back to the world, that its essence is more likely to take shape.” ~ Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine

“It’s about who will turn out to be firmly on Lizzy’s side when all is said and done… The answer surprises her as well as us, and it brings this wincingly funny, stealthily emotional movie to a conclusion that feels both casual and momentous.”  ~ Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

"Wincingly funny, stealthily emotional," Kelly Reichardt's SHOWING UP opens Friday.

“Showing Up is a portrait of an individual but the film is universal in the sense that it’s about a woman living in the concrete here and now.” ~ Manohla Dargis, New York Times

“Brilliantly nuanced and meticulously observed.” ~ Claudia Puig, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)

“That this moody, woozy character study falls closer to the ‘masterpiece’ side of the fence isn’t a surprise, considering it comes from Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams, one of the best filmmaker-actor duos of the last quarter century.” ~ David Fear, Rolling Stone

“What initially seems to be a slice-of-life drama eventually reveals itself as a paean to the difficulties, and rewards, of making art.” ~ David Sims, The Atlantic

“Kelly Reichardt… turns her thoughtful attention to the act of creation itself, rendering both its transcendence and mundanity with equal curiosity.” ~ Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post

“One of the most original American thrillers in years,” HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE opens Friday.

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Thrilling film critics (and alarming a Kansas City intelligence agency enough to release a bulletin calling the movie a security threat), we’re excited to open How to Blow Up a Pipeline this Friday at the Laemmle Glendale and Monica Film Center and April 21 at the Newhall, NoHo and Claremont.
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“Incendiary and furious, confident and courageous, the new thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline boasts not only the best title of the year so far but also the best score, cast and itchy, charged, electric directorial vision.” ~ Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail
"One of the most original American thrillers in years," HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE opens Friday.

“One of the most original American thrillers in years, and one that draws from a deep well of movie history as it develops its characters and sets up its plot twists.” ~ Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

“The way that filmmaker Daniel Goldhaber pulls off what feels like a tightly wound Hollywood potboiler on what we imagine is little more than a studio caterer’s budget is, in itself, a textbook how-to example.” ~ David Fear, Rolling Stone
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"One of the most original American thrillers in years," HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE opens Friday.

“An incendiary, ticking-clock thriller about a group of self-styled insurgents with echoes of Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves and Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama.” ~ Adam Nayman, The Ringer

“Quirky, touching, and well-played fun,” THE INNOCENT opens April 7 at the Royal.

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Part crime thriller, part family farce, Louis Garrel’s The Innocent shows with panache and pathos the dangerous lengths two men go for the women they love. Garrel stars as Abel, a museum educator and widower whose mother, Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg), marries Michel (Roschdy Zem), one of her drama pupils in the local penitentiary. Once on parole Michel tries to start a legitimate life for Sylvie’s sake but soon reverts to his old ways, with the suspicious Abel continually — and ineptly — spying on his stepfather until roped into one of the ex-con’s schemes. Noémie Merlant, wonderful as always, co-stars. We open the film April 7 at the Royal.

“Few caper comedies have this much heart, and few romantic dramas offer such an appealingly nutty plot.” ~ Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal

 "Quirky, touching, and well-played fun," THE INNOCENT opens April 7 at the Royal.

“A humanistic story wrapped in a fun, punchy exterior, much like the French synth-pop music throughout its soundtrack.” ~ Claire Shaffer, New York Times

“The Innocent is quirky, touching, and well-played fun.” ~ Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com
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"Quirky, touching, and well-played fun," THE INNOCENT opens April 7 at the Royal.

“The Innocent is the first movie of Cannes 2022 to give me that belly aching, knee slapping laughter that I desperately needed.” ~ Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily

"Quirky, touching, and well-played fun," THE INNOCENT opens April 7 at the Royal.

“Garrel here delivers a witty and elegantly constructed film that joyfully draws parallels between acting and lying, being and pretending, while remaining breezy, fun, eminently accessible and even welcoming.” ~ Elena Lazic, The Playlist
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Oscar Doc Features – A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS, NAVALNY & ALL THAT BREATHES

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The already formidable 15 films shortlisted for the Best Feature Documentary Oscar have been whittled down to five, and it’s no exaggeration to say they’re all masterpieces that hit about 100 times harder when seen in a theater. People just had a chance to see Fire of Love on Valentine’s Day, and we’ve been playing All the Beauty and the Bloodshed for weeks (but Thursday is the last day!). We are bringing the remaining three to a big screen near you, so now is your chance.
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We’ll have Navalny at the Monica Film Center for 02/24 – 03/02.
Oscar Doc Features - A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS, NAVALNY & ALL THAT BREATHES
A House Made of Splinters plays weekend shows in Glendale (02/25 – 02/26) and at the Royal (03/04 – 03/05).
Oscar Doc Features - A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS, NAVALNY & ALL THAT BREATHES
And we’ll have All that Breathes on March 1 in Glendale and March 2 at the Royal.
Oscar Doc Features - A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS, NAVALNY & ALL THAT BREATHES

“Breathtaking, slow burn, poetic journey” GODLAND opens February 10 at the Laemmle Glendale and Monica Film Center.

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The struggle between the strictures of religion and our own brute animal nature plays out amid the beautifully forbidding landscapes of remote Iceland in Godland, a stunning psychological epic from director Hlynur Pálmason. In the late nineteenth century, Danish priest Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove) makes the perilous trek to Iceland’s southeastern coast with the intention of establishing a church. There, the arrogant man of God finds his resolve tested as he confronts the harsh terrain, temptations of the flesh, and the reality of being an intruder in an unforgiving land. What unfolds is a transfixing journey into the heart of colonial darkness attuned to both the majesty and terrifying power of the natural world.

We open Godland February 10 at the Laemmle Glendale and Monica Film Center.

“This transfixing drama is certainly austere. But there’s also a marvelously odd vein of sneaky humor running through it, along with an unpredictability that keeps you glued.” ~ David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“Godland tells a story of natural wonder, elemental beauty and human folly.” ~ Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

"Breathtaking, slow burn, poetic journey" GODLAND opens February 10 at the Laemmle Glendale and Monica Film Center.

“An engrossing account of a voyage to the dark side of permanent daylight.” ~ Wendy Ide, Screen International
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“It’s a breathtaking, slow burn, poetic journey through an utterly gorgeous hell for this Danish missionary-colonialist-photographer.” ~ Alex Billington, FirstShowing.net

“A work of handcrafted beauty,” THE BLUE CAFTAN opens February 10 at the Royal.

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"A work of handcrafted beauty," THE BLUE CAFTAN opens February 10 at the Royal.
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“The blue caftan, both the clothing and the piece of cinema, are crafted like an elegant act of welcome resistance.” ~ Namrata Joshi, New Indian Express
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“Not only about abiding love, but also about a deep, unspoken understanding between two people who are committed to each other.” ~ Shubhra Gupta, Indian Express
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"A work of handcrafted beauty," THE BLUE CAFTAN opens February 10 at the Royal.
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“Touzani has introduced the caftan as a symbol, and it’s touching to see how the film uses it in the end.” ~ Peter Debruge, Variety
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“Stunning…working with an intricacy that rivals that of the craftsman at the center of her film, the auteur crafts a surprisingly warm story that subverts expectations at almost every turn.” ~ Christian Zilko, indieWire
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