Lysette

Performances as internal and understated as that of Trace Lysette, playing Monica, a transwoman returning to spend time with her terminally ill mother, might not be as eye-catching as the big showy awards contenders. But this is remarkable, delicate work from Lysette (Transparent, Hustlers) – a performance that deserves to be part of the year’s awards conversations.Much is left unsaid in this empathic drama. Monica, it’s clear from the anguished voicemail messages she leaves for a former lover, is going through a painful…

A mysterious miracle is at the heart of this absorbing and superbly acted film from the Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, which refuses the cliched “issue movie” beats of confrontation, catharsis and resolution. Like his previous work Hannah, which starred Charlotte Rampling as the haunted, troubled woman of that name, Monica is marked by its cool compositional rigour: scenes from a life are evoked with studied, often wordless vignettes and middle-distance shots from fixed camera positions, combined occasionally with…

“I feel proud that we made a piece of art that trusts the audience,” Trace Lysette told me about her new film Monica, in which she plays the title character, a trans woman who returns home after decades of estrangement to reconcile with her dying mother. “I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen a film with a trans person as the lead. It’s not lost on me that this is special.”It’s been a long road for Lysette to her first role as a leading lady. The actor first gained attention for a role on Transparent as a…