In 2014, writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour made waves in the indie film community with her first feature A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Described as an “Iranian vampire spaghetti western,” the film quickly put Amirpour on the radar as a talented and original filmmaker. This reputation was further cemented with 2016’s cannibalistic love story, The Bad Batch. Now, her latest feature, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, is one of Amirpour’s best projects yet.
Set in the gritty streets of New Orleans, the film stars Kate Hudson as Bonnie Belle, a single mother and exotic dancer just trying to make it day-to-day. After a chance encounter with escaped mental hospital patient Mona Lisa Lee (Jun Jong-seo), her luck seemingly changes. Bonnie discovers Mona Lisa Lee has supernatural powers, which Bonnie fully exploits for financial gain. However, an officer (Craig Robinson) soon discovers their crime spree and sets out to stop it. Meanwhile, Bonnie’s young son, Charlie (Evan Whitten), intervenes, angry at his mom for many reasons, including using the innocent, child-like Mona Lisa Lee to commit crimes.
Ana Lily Amirpour and Kate Hudson talked with MovieWeb about the role of Bonnie and her relationship with her son.
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon Shows the Reality of Parenting
Parenting is hard. No truer words have ever been spoken. Kate Hudson’s Bonnie is living life the only way she knows how — by being street smart and always hustling for a buck. On the opposite end of the spectrum, she is also a mom with a bright kid who sometimes has to take the role of an adult. When discussing these challenges, Hudson commented:
“Parenting is hard, especially for people who weren’t given the tools to know how to parent.”
Although Bonnie makes questionable parenting and life choices, there is more that lies beneath the surface. Talking about her true nature, Hudson says:
“But Bonnie is not a nefarious or evil person. I think deep down she’s actually a really good person that was dealt a kind of shitty hand. Her survival mechanisms are a huge part of who she had to create in her life to get to where she is to survive. That doesn’t always lean towards parenting in the way that we see people should be parenting.”
In Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon’s final act, a violent event takes place, landing Bonnie in the hospital with injuries. While there, she learns that her son, angry at his mom and life in general, has run away. He and Mona Lisa Lee plan to fly away and start a new, less complicated life. But before he is able to move on, Charlie is eager to hear from his mom one last time. Borrowing a phone from a man in an airport bathroom, Charlie makes an emotional phone call that sends Bonnie into a frenzy, showing her love for her son.
Ana Lily Amirpour talked about this scene and how it relates to being an adolescent:
“I think it’s cool, too, because her kid makes the final choice where he goes back. There are always moments for everyone where you hate your parents so much and something makes you so mad and you’re like, I’m gonna run away or prove it to you or whatever it is. I felt that way and I had awesome parents. So it’s interesting how he’s working through his own stuff. I mean, at the end he calls her. He has to go to the bathroom and call her. I love that phone call.”
Does Kate Hudson’s Bonnie Reach a Turning Point?
Following the traumatic events that hospitalized her and the emotional release experienced with Charlie, one has to wonder if this would be a turning point for Bonnie if the film continued. Would she see this as a second chance at motherhood, remove some of the risks from her professional life, and embrace change? Perhaps… but perhaps not.
As Kate Hudson embraced the role, we asked how she thinks Bonnie would move forward. She explained:
“I think she’d do the best she can. I think Bonnie is Bonnie. Part of the character arc is realizing that she really does live for her son. I think they’d probably go back to their life, and they’d still have to do the same routine.”
While that might sound a bit bleak given the events that both Bonnie and Charlie have dealt with, Hudson also stated:
“She’d probably be a little bit more sensitive. But at the end of the day, Bonnie is very unapologetically who she is. I think she’d probably be more gentle with him for sure.”
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon was released in theaters, on Digital, and On Demand on September 30, 2022, via Saban Films.
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