My expectations were high for this second feature from A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night director Ana Lily Amirpour.

I love A Girl Walks Home… so much – it’s a B&W Iranian feminist vampire western after all – that any follow up is always going to risk disappointing. I am wary when any amount of international success for a non-US director means the next will have a bigger budget and need to make more concessions for Hollywood (Asghar Farhadi’s Everybody Knows is a good example of this). And if I was to imagine what Amirpour might do with a bit more money and star power, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon would be it.

Mona Lisa Lee (Jeon Jong-seo who was in Burning) comes out of a 12-year catatonic state in a New Orleans juvenile psychiatric asylum and discovers a power to control the actions of others. An orphan from North Korea, she has no awareness of American culture – like any immigrant perhaps – and is something of an alien dropped to earth, discovering words, tastes and expectations. She reminded me of the Girl in A Girl Walks Home… but with less angst.

After escaping, she meets exotic dancer Bonnie (Kate Hudson) who sees an opportunity to use Mona Lisa’s powers for financial gain. Mona meets Bonnie’s perky and disgruntled son Charlie (Evan Whitten) and maybe-drug-dealer Fuzz (Ed Skrein), who has vibes of the Pimp from A Girl Walks Home… but nice. Hot on their heels is amiable and plodding cop Officer Harold (Craig Robinson) who doesn’t believe in the wisdom of fortune cookies.

There’s a satisfying neon dystopian feel to the mise en scène with light and shade and wide-angle camerawork to emphasise isolation of character and place. Jeon has Ringu vibes and it is refreshing to see Kate Hudson look her age and play against type. Apart from a bit of gore at the start, the film is (disappointingly) bloodless and has a certain tweeness as soon as Charlie enters the story.

A Girl Walks Home… works so well because of the lack of dialogue, the visual austerity and the killer soundtrack that allow us to create depth to the characters and meaning to the narrative. Amirpour takes her time and lovingly dallies on scenes that build tension and make us fall in love with B&W and Sheila Vand. Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon lowers the bar and gives us too much dialogue and exposition, too much plot and, although it has a lovely graphic novel aesthetic, it isn’t enough of anything to really elevate it.

The characters are interesting but steer toward stereotype and Mona Lisa’s powers seem almost peripheral rather than a force for change or redemption. It feels like it is aiming at a broader audience (and will probably find it) but for this Amirpour fan, I wish she’d been given more opportunity to develop her voice.

It sounds like I’m being critical and I don’t want to put you off watching this one. It’s still a fun ride and I will watch it again, hopefully with a less critical eye.

---

Have you seen this film? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.