Monos (2019)

There's a shot in Monos that I keep coming back to. A group of teenage soldiers, faces painted, moving through cloud and mist on a mountain so remote it feels like the edge of the world. It's genuinely beautiful, and it's genuinely unsettling, and for a moment you think: this is going to be something special. The trouble is, that feeling never quite resolves into the film it promises to be.

Part of my A-Z World Movie Tour, this one representing Uruguay, Monos follows a squad of young guerrilla fighters, known only by code names, stationed high on a remote mountain. Their mission is to guard a hostage and, rather brilliantly, a cow. They answer to some unseen revolutionary force that communicates through crackling radio messages and the occasional visit from a messenger. Beyond that, the film offers very little in the way of explanation, and that's both its greatest strength and its most maddening flaw.

Because visually, this thing is extraordinary. The cinematography is breathtaking in the truest sense: misty peaks, golden hour light bleeding across the landscape, dream sequences lit like something out of a Renaissance painting. The sound design is just as immersive. Wind, distant drums, whispered transmissions. It pulls you into this eerie, isolated world and keeps you there. You feel the cold, the damp, the paranoia. As a sensory experience, it's as bold as anything I've seen in recent years.

You can feel the ghost of Tarkovsky hovering over the whole thing. The slow pacing, the obsession with ritual and decay, the sense that nature itself is passing judgement on these lost souls. If you're someone who responded to that kind of filmmaking, there's plenty here to admire. The young cast is ferocious, physical, and committed in ways that are sometimes uncomfortable to watch. These aren't polished performances. They feel raw and real.

But here's where I have to be honest about my frustration. The film mistakes vagueness for mystery, and they are not the same thing. Who are these kids? What cause are they fighting for? Why this mountain, this mission, this hostage? I'm not asking for a history lesson or a political thriller. I'm asking for enough of a grounding that the descent into chaos actually means something. Without it, the film's themes of identity loss and primal instinct feel less like a slow revelation and more like mood wallpaper.

There's a version of this film where the ambiguity is thrilling. Where the gaps in the narrative feel like a deliberate and provocative choice. Occasionally, Monos gets there. But too often it tips over into carelessness, as though withholding context is the same as depth. It isn't. I felt something similar watching The Witch (2015), which also relies heavily on atmosphere and isolation, but earns its dread by giving you just enough to hold onto. Monos doesn't always manage that balance.

What you're left with is a film that's easier to respect than to love. It's clearly aiming for arthouse prestige, and in terms of tone and texture, it gets there. There are moments of real horror and unexpected beauty, sometimes in the same breath. But if you're hoping for emotional payoff or narrative clarity, this will likely leave you cold. I wanted to be moved. Instead I was mostly impressed, which is a lesser thing.

Three stars. A film to admire from a distance, which is perhaps not entirely unintentional, but isn't quite enough for me.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2019  | Watched: 2025-09-16

View on Letterboxd →

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More from Argentina: The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) · The Fire (2015)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More thriller: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Angst (1983) · The Long Walk (2025) · Punishment Park (1971)