User Reviews

Wow - I tend to like bleak films. But this film didn't seem to provide any solace from the bleak. Or any answers for that matter. Beautifully shot. Great acting. But did I enjoy it or endure it? I'm really not sure - but I'm pretty sure it will stick with me for a while. I've given it a 7 for now but that could easily be a 3 or a 9 - it's one of those marmite films and I haven't a clue right now which side of the salty yeasty spread I'm on...... Erm - it's a must watch!

Heart of Darkness (1899) and Lord of the Flies (1954) by way of the mad folly of Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972) and Apocalypse Now (1979) and the children-are-screwed nihilism of Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (1980) and Johnny Mad Dog (2008), garnished with the soul-shattering futility-of-war mentality of Idi i smotri (1985), all wrapped up in a pseudo-fairy tale/fantasy aesthetic. Turns out an insane hodgepodge like that results in a completely unique film, quite unlike anything you're ever likely to have seen. Written by Alejandro Landes and Alexis Dos Santos, and directed by Landes, Monos (from the Greek "mónos", meaning "alone") is an uncategorisable film that moves from a mountain top which is literally above the cloud-line to a stifling jungle to a raging river to the edge of a city in the midst of war, whilst thematically travelling all the way from a tight-knit group of soldiers who would die for one another to a last-man-standing mentality bordering on insanity. Visually stunning, the plot is a little lacking, and sometimes the allegorical basis is a tad imprecise, but this is hugely ambitious and audacious filmmaking from a director we're going to be hearing a lot about in the coming years.

In an unidentified country at an unidentified point in time, a war is raging between unidentified combatants for never-specified reasons. On a mountaintop, we're introduced to the MONOS unit, a small group of child soldiers with two tasks - to look after a conscripted milk-cow and to guard an American prisoner being held for ransom, referred to as Doctora (Julianne Nicholson). By day, they take their duties very seriously, but by night, they act more like the teenagers they are; drinking, eating mushrooms, having sex, goofing around. A tight-knit group, morale is high. That is until an accident has a series of knock-on effects that ultimately sees them abandon their mountain base, heading into the unforgiving jungle far below. Cut off from their chain of command, their discipline starts to break down and soon, they have come into violent conflict with one another.

Although the film is very loosely inspired by the Colombian Conflict, a low-intensity, multi-sided civil war that began in 1964 and is still going on today, one of its most important aspect elements is a lack of political, historical, societal, and militaristic specificity - it could be an allegory for almost any conflict at any point in time. Rather than attempting to elicit pathos by evoking the horrors of a particular conflict, Landes treats the story as a universal allegory, facilitated by the lack of concrete contextualisation. In this sense, it has both a fairy-tale sensibility and a mythological underpinning, with the violence and brutality offset by a poetic tone that speaks to timelessness.

On top of this, the film examines the chaos and absurdity of war through the lens of adolescence; although the members of MONOS can be violent, so too are they teenagers, a duality that informs the entire film. The opening scene, for example, depicts the group playing football, but wearing blindfolds, thus encapsulating both the seriousness with which they regard their training, but also acknowledging that play is still an important part of their lives. Indeed, the film could even be interpreted as an allegory for adolescence itself - a group of teenagers unsure who they are, experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sexuality, not entirely thrilled about being told what to do by adults, and convinced that they can do a better job of running things.

Monos's most salient aesthetic characteristic is its dream-like quality, walking a very fine line between the gritty realism of a war drama and the hallucinatory feel of a fever-dream (in this, it very much recalls Apocalypse Now). This sense of existing just slightly outside reality is aided in no small part by the discordant and dislocating score by Mica Levi, which is built around whistling and timpani percussion. Also important here is the lush and saturated photography by Jasper Wolf. On the mountain, Wolf often shoots scenes with the characters dwarfed in a small corner of the frame, filling almost the entire screen with vegetation and sky. Such compositions suggest life lived at the edge of the world, existing outside society, existing outside even time. However, once we relocate to the jungle, Wolf goes in the opposite direction, shooting in tight close-ups, frequently handheld, suggesting both claustrophobia and the loss of the near-omniscient control seen earlier in the film.

If I were to criticise anything, it would be the plot, which is very slight, even by allegory standards. Indeed, regarding that allegory, although I certainly admire Landes's steadfast resistance to specificity, sometimes he's almost too successful in rendering the non-specific and universal, leaving you wondering what exactly he is trying to allegorise (even the title can't be locked into a single meaning - apart from the Greek word for "alone" and the name of the unit itself, it's also the Spanish term for "monkey"). And although the theme of child soldiers is a weighty enough issue on its own, it's something with which Landes seems uninterested for its own sake. This can lead to a lack of emotion, which is almost certainly by design, but it makes it difficult to feel empathy for any of the characters, even Doctora.

Nevertheless, this is hugely ambitious cinema with a lot on its mind. Straddling the line between the surreal and the barbaric, realism and fantasy, the seriousness of the adult world and the innocence of childhood, it's a singularly unique viewing experience, as beautiful, lyrical, and abstract in some places as it is ugly, crude, and realistic in others. Both a dire prediction for where an increasingly divided world may be heading and a foundation myth, Monos speaks as much to our future as it does to the legends underpinning our present.

The potential future leaders of the world and their citizens show us how much worse it could be when their time arrives - especially when left to their own devices, without safety nets, guidance and above all love.

We corrupt our children at our peril but most of the time we're unaware of the damage done to them and to us as a result.

Another great piece of thought provoking and engaging cinema - this time from Columbia but the message is universal.

Beautiful landscape. Strange storyline. Great soundtrack. Not everyone's cup of tea.

Bizarre story about a jungle commando in South America. Most of the actors are kids. Many resemblances with Apocalypse now.

I'm a Colombian, this movie represent the fears of most of the young people the absence, of state, family or someone who guide you or show the other ways to live a life. Most of the decisions that a young colombian is decided by fear or experience in this case, violence. This movie represent in their characters different personalities in a group of friends that had to act like adults. It's a perfect critic to the state what happens when a young dont want to live through violence or unlike with it?. This movie show reality that is hide from media, a scream of bravery a young people that make choices maybe the only choices that he or she have. I saw it with my family, and my parents really understand it because it's not only to my generation, represent a lot of history and kids that live that right now it's not only a movie is a story that can read past, present and future of young people in colombia, fit in every time, that is the way to see it. Just research about young and kids in colombia to really appreciate the movie, i'm very lucky young in colombia have study, family and opportunities but i'm a concerned about other regions that not even have water, educations or opportunities to choose a live.

A bit slow at times and confusing as to where the plot is headed but overall it's mix between Lord of the flies meets red dawn. Sort of a solid 7 as far as characters, storyline and production.

Add "Monos" to the long line of movies that make me feel like I know very little about the world I live in.

I wasn't sure whether this bizarre story about child soldiers in Colombia was based on real events or a fictional allegory for the state of the country. So I researched and found myself learning about the long history of armed conflict within Colombia, a country that has been at some version of war with itself for seemingly forever. Turns out children are conscripted to become soldiers, though I still feel like the specifics of this movie are a fever dream version of how these situations actually play out in real life.

People have described "Monos" as being "Apocalypse Now" crossed with "Lord of the Flies," and I can't improve on that comparison. It's a stunning movie in all ways -- stunningly told, visually stunning, stunningly acted, by a cast of very young, mostly unknown actors at that. The word "visionary" is used to describe all sorts of films and directors who don't warrant the honor, but this movie is the real deal.

Grade: A

Difficult one this. I'm sure for Colombians this is a vital film dealing with a catastrophic situation that seems unending. But for a westerner without much knowledge of the situation in Colombia and surrounds apart from the drug dealing this is a perplexing film that only gradually seems to make sense. Very difficult fist half hour or so where this 'kid's army' mess about and degrade each other in the mud (although intermittent shots of cloud formations are amazing). Towards the end the pace picks up and we begin to get some measure of understanding of what is going on, during which we get amazing shots of seeming unending forests and river and the most astonishing and exciting rapids sequence. Overall it appears that the poor people of Colombia are struggling as much against each other and the elements than against any outside force and this is where the shadow of Apocalypse Now is cast, particularly wth the brief escape with the magic mushrooms and the eventual appearance of the helicopter. Music is brave and impressive and the director must have had a job obtaining such performances in such difficult conditions, its just that as this is no car chase/adventure story a little background or more helpful beginning might have made an illuminating film even more so.

I simply was excited to see this, not only because I'm latino but because I saw the review of how beautiful the scenery, the music and the acting were. I agree with those. Yet, it lacked storyline. In didn't get it. It has no beginning and less an end. It's movies like this that make me hate my wasted time. I enjoyed the scenery, acting and the music but what the heck was that??

I see people saying you need to know about the Colombian context in order to truly understand this film. Maybe that is true to an extent, but the director deliberately removes any context that would tell you about the situation. That is for a reason. Because context is removed, you don't know who the characters are fighting for or why they're fighting. You can't say whether they are on the 'good' or 'evil' side, if there even is one at all.

From the get-go the film immerses you into their lives forcefully and vividly. You don't need to know what the wider context or motive is to understand the very human drama. What I see is children making decisions based on a range of factors: fear, power, pride. But I also see children who are missing vital components of a human's existence because of the war that forces them to think like robots at times. Paradoxically, they also have the freedom and lack of authority to let them run riot at times, manifesting in wild, irrational decisions and bizarre, disturbing rituals. This unnatural state of being, war plus lack of social structure, is the cause. Yet you do get glimpses of their youth being expressed in more innocent ways, that remind you that there is still some humanity buried in there.

I like that despite the situations the characters are in, Monos isn't bothered with making you pity them. It's interested in things other than that well-worn trope. It doesn't try to make you hate them either. Rather, it shows how they can do evil things, irrational things, and occasionally, good things. But ultimately, child or adult, war makes demons of us all.

Another thing that really hooked me into this film is the cinematography, which is at times beautiful but is foremost fixed on expressing the characters' emotions. During crazy ritualistic behaviour, it becomes frenzied. As the group becomes increasingly disjointed, the camera is increasingly disorienting too.

This film works mostly in a metaphorical context, so it's unlikely you will know much of why things are the way they are, but I believe that's the point.

Unfortunately some very decent visuals contrast with some cumbersome attempts to get the viewer interested in characters and story. And some arresting shots are all the credit I can give, there's no exciting sequences, absolutely no humour, and (I think intentionally) no context about the fighting and conscription of youths save for a finishing shot of a city which I think was Medellin. A realistic picture of children with machine guns in a jungle is surely a relevant and important subject but this piece is not engaging, I was very relieved when it was over.

The Columbian photography is the most remarkable aspect of this film about a group of youth soldiers in a putative guerrilla force. The carefree teenagers with assault rifles start to come apart when their cow dies, and they cover up their misdemeanour.

While this is a small film, it does have a bit of trouble achieving escape velocity because of how close it is to Lord of the Flies and to some extent Apocalypse Now. It is effectively a two part film because the two different bases define the shoot. That said, it has some remarkably strong performances, including the quiet centre of the story who is gender fluid despite her name "Rambo". Her reticence and inability to fit in with the hormone driven "Monkeys" or with what she finds in her journey beyond is a well worked simile of how a neutral outlook has no place when a country is at war with itself.

A fever dream mash up of Lord of the Flies and some type of Apocalypse Now Columbian hybrid, Monos is unlike anything you've seen before, and while it leaves much too be desired in a narrative and storytelling sense, Alejandro Landes visually arresting and at times haunting feature is a worthy expenditure of time for foreign film cinephiles.

Set in some type of close but also oddly distant version of our reality, Monos centres around a group of child and teenage soldiers based on a cloud covered mountainscape in the Columbian wilds with the group (known simply as Monos) charged by "The Organisation" to protect a dairy cow and a prisoner of war, who they seem hell-bent on keeping imprisoned no matter the cost.

As is to be expected by a scenario that sees non-adults left alone to their own devices, desires and in possession of a dangerous array of weaponry, things for the Monos group don't go to plan at all times with Landes and his collection of well-cast performers able to explore the animalistic nature of mankind's behaviors and the depths we turn to when tasked with life or death options.

At all times throughout accompanied by Mica Levi's unconventional musical score and Jasper Wolf's eye capturing camera work (with the Columbian setting proving to be one of the film's most unforgettable components), Monos is in many ways an accomplished production, unafraid to get dark and dangerous as it takes its viewers into some unpredictable territory that doesn't always make for easy viewing but there's a feeling here that Landes tale isn't able to bring everything together at once too knock it out of the park like the film sometimes threatens to do.

After a particularly strong opening half, Monos's inability to gift us a truly stand out lead or character to root for is a big problem for the film as it takes us into darker and darker terrain, while Landes insistence on very little explanation in the way of who the Organisation is or what exactly the Monos group are meant to be achieving stops Lande's examination of his themes in their tracks, no more evident than by an extremely weak finale that is nothing like the strong stuff we are introduced to early on.

With its craftsmanship always on display and with its unique setting and set-up, Monos is always watchable and always intriguing, but also incessantly cold and vague, holding it back from engaging the emotions and heart like it does in the visually pleasing stakes.

Final Say -

There's a lot to admire in Monos, a film that is mostly its own unique beast, but a lack of explanation, character development and a failure to stick its landing makes Alejandro Landes a good film rather than a great one.

3 freshly grown mushrooms out of 5

To be honest I was going to score it a seven but the end was unsatisfying to me (plenty of other people will be satisfied though) so I changed it to a six. The cinematography was good, clearly people that know what they're doing. The acting was very good, certainly when the majority of the cast are children, but they all did a very convincing job. Nice landscapes and nature views from Colombia, that was a bonus. But not everything was perfect, for instance the story could and should have been elaborated, too many questions unanswered in my opinion. Did I regret watching it? Certainly not but it will be just a one time viewing for me.

Hallucinatory plunge into the depths of the human soul certainly won't be for everyone. However, if you have the nerves its a dark, unsettling exhilaratingly wild and ultimately rewarding ride.

I agree with other reviewers about comparisons to Aguirre Wrath of God, Deliverance, Apocalypse Now, Southern Comfort as well as child soldier films such as Johnny Mad Dog or Come and See. However, Monos also bears comparison with two much older films. The first being Figures in a Landscape (Joseph Losey, 1970). This starred Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell as two men on the run in a bleak landscape, possibly Europe, possibly the Americas somewhere, evading soldiers, a menacing black helicopter and, on occasion, raiding villages for supplies. The second is 1985's The Emerald Forest, (John Boorman) set in the South American rain forest and exploring environmental themes through the story of a lost child. Both films address existentialist questions and lost children respectively, themes which abound in Monos, whose children are metaphorically if not at times literally also lost.

Monos is the superior film to Figures by virtue of a firmer commitment to ambiguity. Neither film indicates where, or indeed when, it's taking place. Neither film gives back story to the characters. Whereas dialogue is sparing in Monos, in Figures there's speech throughout, with both men holding forth their philosophies on life and especially women. This jars somewhat with the otherwise Kafkaesque feel and results in a film which, rather than being one of the great classic cult movies of the seventies, such as Deliverance, is more of a curious period piece, it's excessive acting and attempts at profundity over reaching and rendering it somewhat dated.

It's too long since I saw The Emerald Forest to be able to properly compare it, suffice to say I'll shortly be returning to it, assuming I can get hold of it. At the time of writing Figures was uploaded on to youtube.

The lack of a clear narrative arc and the use of multiple protagonists means that MONOS will frustrate some viewers. The film expresses ideas and notions rather than 'working through' a problem or presenting the viewer with a moral - the lack of any clear moral sense will further unsettle those who're accustomed to the conventions of narrative film.

The militia unit of eight teenagers is presumably modelled on cults / guerrilla organisations like Peru's Shining Path or Colombia's FARC. While ostensibly about child soldiers and the cynical way in which youthful idealism (and naivety) is taken advantage of and exploited by those older, ultimately MONOS is about the human condition and essentially the human animal alone in an indifferent universe. The title Monos can be read as an ironic comment - Spanish for 'monkey' in that we humans are in fact nothing more than relatively sophisticated primates.

Several themes are explored. How to live our lives, how to adjust to, negotiate the compromises the individual needs to make in order to secure the safety and advantages from the group. The consequences of the individual abnegating responsibility and prioritising transient pleasures over longer term prosperity.

The group of teenagers can be seen as a microcosm of the human race - given a cow to look after, their negligence leads to its death. The cow can be seen as allegorical of the earth which, like the cow in the film, provides for us. We're likewise custodians failing to care for, nurture and secure the earth for future generations.

There's little sense of the kids working together in a cohesive manner. Authority and order are remote, at the end of a radio. Those of a religious faith would acknowledge that any God, if we accept God's existence, has allowed humanity to get on with things by itself. My reading of the film is that we are indeed alone, in an indifferent universe, with only ourselves. God is as remote as whoever is at the end of the radio. If a saviour exists, it's in the form of Messenger (played by former FARC member Wilson Salazar), the commander who arrives intermittently. There's another analogy here with this character as a possible saviour figure and I won't reveal spoilers because my purpose is here to tell you Why You Should Watch This Film.

Camera work and different locations are really effective in conveying meaning, moving from agoraphobia on the mountain top to claustrophobia in the jungle and river scenes. Close in camera work, honing in on the characters faces conveys their bewilderment and there's an incredible visceral quality. As Messenger pushes them through their paces, the sheer futility of human existence expressed as they run on the spot, going nowhere, their feet pounding in the mud or in the water. We are animals, monkeys, of the earth and no amount of thought, ideology will change that.

The cast of largely non professionals turn in totally convincing performances all the more real for being informed by lived experiences. Apparently the director of the film invited teenagers from all over Colombia and, having narrowed down the applicants, put them through an actual military style 'boot camp.' The uncertainties and anxieties of adolescence are consistently conveyed by the young cast through facial expression, body language and movement. As is the impetuousness of that age, the compulsion and the craziness. Tension sustains, this is an edge of your seat film because we simply don't know where these kids are going or what they're planning, or going, to do.

Another way this movie triumphs is through use of sound and the incidental music, which reinforces the interior worlds of the characters. The score by composer Mica Levi is superb. I'm not a fan of music in films, however in this case less in the form of beautiful yet unsettling electronica is most definitely more hence all the more effective. The sound scape in the jungle scenes is also masterful aural sculpture, building, sustaining a sense of quiet unease, claustrophobia and a feeling of dread through the sounds of the forest.

Be warned. This certainly isn't for everyone. See it if...You like your action movies philosophical, leaving plenty of room for thought, speculation, interpretation. You can manage the dread, anxiety, apprehension you'll likely feel. A vertiginous plunge into the darkest recesses of the human condition. Just be sure to see it on the biggest screen with the loudest speakers that you can.

Heard a lot about this movie and 'Bacurau' as great foreign movies coming from the Americas. Bacurau is good.period. Everything about that movie makes sense and conveys the deeper meanings splendidly. Monos however is a stinker sadly. Be very wary of the reviews on imdb. The cinematography is A+ and the music is appropriate. The rest is just the director being too aware of himself and trying to create a masterpiece. There's really no narrative,very hard to understand the story beyond the threadbare lines thrown at us. Lots of young kids making faces at the camera ,wearing make-up (a la Apocalypse Now) but here there's no point in wearing those black faces other than to pose for the camera - it has no bearing on the narrative. This is piffle of the highest calibre. It reminds you of some british movies just made for an award where it has everything but just doesnt gel together. In 'Monos' it is not even that - silly slow motion caps, sillier screams and shouts all to no avail - simply because there's no narrative. Watch 'Bacurau' - now that's a good movie!

See, most reviews here don't even care to analyze the conflict Colombia has lived for over 60 years where this youth recruiting has happened continuously. It's cinematography is perfect, music stunning and it tells the truth without showing a side: no guerrilla or paramilitares boots. This is a conflict that has killed thousands of lives. Study your history before watching it and you'll get why this film is so important for Colombians -and for the world.

"The horror! The horror!" Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Alejandro Landes' Monos is a small stretch for a gifted writer/director who has grown up on the tour-de-force classics about jungle mayhem and survival such as Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now; Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God; and William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Sprinkle these with Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and Landes is ready to display the darkest human tendencies in a jungle backdrop that cares not for civilized niceties.

The Monos are a band of eight teen and younger soldiers in the forest of Colombia doing the bidding of an unknown "Organization" and devolving into anarchy because mature leadership is in short supply. It's a nightmare peopled by out of control young people, most not nice at all.

With guerillas' names like Wolf, Dog, Rambo, Boom Boom, Bigfoot, Swede, Smurf, and Lady, no guessing is needed to feel the allegorical pull, especially with the highly figurative Lord of the Flies as an influence. The rebels are figuratively role playing, and while their names aren't always indicative of their actions, Landes' success defining the different roles is notable given how little time is allotted to all but Rambo and Bigfoot.

With an unknown cause and secret overlords somewhere else, the young folk appear to have established order, the opening montage showing a degree of fitness training heretofore unknown in the civilized world. Yet appearances belie the chaos that will ensue. The presence of an American physician prisoner, Doctora (Julianne Nicholson), does little to mitigate the severe hormonal and emotional imbalances among the young folk.

Nor does the conscripted cow civilize them-it symbolically might offer some gentle milk drinking and provide softening for the hardened rebels. Not so. The mostly set pieces (there is little plot to give coherence and order to the disarray) serve to show the random lives without discernible purpose other than to survive and maybe along the way help an unknown cause. Although Doctora's multiple attempts to escape provide a hint of plot, they are actually weak at furthering the story.

Arguably the best jungle story is Aquirre, where conquistadores carry a Madonna statue down an Andean mountain only to find the devil in the natives. Director Herzog manages to include some dark humor, any humor being absent in the bleak Monos, which is no Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Landes and co-writer Alexis Dos Santos craft an unnerving tale of anarchy, aided by the unsettling score of Mica Levi. Jasper Wolf's cinematography is lurid and claustrophobic, green and menacing, beautiful and dangerous.

Despite the discursive story, Monos is one of the best recent survival films. It's an effective cautionary tale supporting the need for adult supervision.

"The jungle is alive. It's dangerous as a living nightmare and brimful of hostility." Sarah Sheridan

Done possibly with cutaways presenting ideas in the medium dance. So much so that I was expecting it to be something it wasn't at all. The beautiful cinematography saved a somewhat over saturated experience of art vs story. There is a story there but you'll have to pick amongst the beauty shots to find it.

I didn't get it at all and found the film too nonsensical and boring to be enjoyed at face value.

There is no fear, terror or excitement in it. There is no Apocalypse Now and certainly no Cannibal Holocaust. It felt like an art film made by and cast by students, with no plot or direction.

Also, I understand enough Spanish to realize it was badly acted and stiff.

This film was way too allegorical for me and relies on the viewer having some personal interest vested into it, which I did not, otherwise it comes across as a load of young people unnecessarily acting like idiots.

Some nice camera shots do not make for an entertaining film.