Monos (2019)

Alejandro Landes, a Colombian-Ecuadorian filmmaker who had previously made the documentary Cocalero (2007) and the feature Porfirio (2011), assembled an unusually broad coalition of co-producers across eight countries to bring this project to life on a reported budget of under two million dollars. Shot largely on location in the Colombian highlands and jungle by cinematographer Jasper Wolf, the production involved training its largely non-professional young cast in military drills and physical discipline to build the group cohesion the story required. The film arrived at a particular moment of renewed international attention on Colombia, decades into its internal armed conflict, though Landes was careful to keep the setting deliberately unspecific. Monos premiered at Sundance in 2019, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award, before going on to represent Colombia at the Academy Awards.

A-Z World Movie Tour Uruguay Monos is a haunting, visually stunning film that lingers in the mind like smoke over a jungle ridge. Beautiful to look at, unsettling to experience. Set high on a remote mountain, it follows a group of teenage soldiers (known only by code names) guarding a hostage and a cow, all under the command of some unseen revolutionary force. The cinematography is breathtaking: misty peaks, golden sunsets, surreal dream sequences lit like religious visions. And the sound design (wind, distant drums, whispered radio messages) pulls you deep into its eerie, isolated world. There’s no doubt it’s inspired, you can feel the ghost of Tarkovsky in its slow pacing, spiritual undertones, and obsession with ritual and decay. But for all its artistry, Monos left me frustrated. Too much goes unexplained. Who are these kids? What army do they serve? Why this location? Why this mission? The lack of context isn’t just mysterious, it borders on careless. Instead of feeling mysterious, it feels vague. We’re meant to focus on their descent into chaos, identity loss, and primal instinct, but without a stronger grounding, it starts to feel more like mood than meaning. It’s clearly aiming for arthouse prestige, and in terms of tone and texture, it succeeds. The young cast delivers intense, physical performances, and there are moments of real horror and beauty. But if you’re someone who likes narrative clarity or emotional payoff, this might leave you cold. Impressive as a sensory experience, bold in its ambition, but too cryptic and detached to fully connect. A film to admire… from a distance.

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

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