Monos

2019 Directed by Alejandro Landes

On a faraway mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.

Moisés Arias Julianne Nicholson Sofia Buenaventura Karen Quintero Julian Giraldo Laura Castrillón Deibi Rueda Paul Cubides Sneider Castro Wilson Salazar Jorge Román

95 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

News Alejandro Landes takes us deep inside his acclaimed jungle thriller Monos. Read post

Popular reviews

Review by maria ★★★★ 15

hey academy, think you forgot something bitch
Review by Sean Baker 12

Went in knowing nothing and loved the journey. Beautiful, tense and totally engaging. And amazing stunts and FX. Not sure how they had Moises Arias and Julianne Nicholson tumbling down violent rapids. Would love to know about the making of this film... seems like an intense shoot.
Anyone know how I can see director Alejandro Landes's first film Porfirio?
Watched at Arclight Hollywood.
Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★½ 14

Lotta wet clothes in this film, can’t imagine how uncomfortable. Like all the sand and dirt rubbing up against your skin? Sheesh. A consistently dark and foggy film. There’s no room for a breather which, in a lot of ways works, and in some ways feels like something the film desperately needs. Rico killed it!
Review by iana ★★★★ 6

completely intoxicating. that mica levi score! i actually think the vagueness around its politics is a strength—you stay with these kids the whole time with no idea what they’re fighting for, and that’s pretty damn disturbing! a must-see in cinemas (if you can!)
rico, my boy!!! whodathunk the real star from hannah montana was moises arias!!!
Review by BrandonHabes ★★★★½ 10

MONOS exists on another planet, a perilous edge of the world fantasy that injects you with a syringe of Lord of the Flies + Aguirre, the Wrath of God. A brutal, unflinching fever dream that takes you hostage for 102min, starves you of its sociopolitical context, then forces you to survive its guerrilla anarchy. These are the lost boys and girls of Neverland. A dysfunctional young militia being trained for a war they can hardly understand, pushed to revolution more by hormones and insecurity than by clear, specific ideology.
The bare, almost feral mystery of being thrown into their savage world without any kind of guidance creates an immediate you-are-there ferocity. Faint echos of a larger Civil War loom on…
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★★ 15

Hoop-tober (hopefully), #18:
I am barely able to type right now, because my hands & fingers are shaking; I can only hope that Landes realizes the legendary scope of what he and his cast & crew have created here. No other filmmaker, today, is still making movies like this — it is, rather, in the same league as the very darkest and most intense of 70s Coppola (Apocalypse Now), Herzog (Aguirre: the Wrath of God) & Friedkin (Sorcerer). An instant classic and, speaking of things classic, Mica Levi, while still at dawn in her compositional career, is proving herself to be an unmatched master of the film score. Everything about this work is straight up perfect from start to finish — technically, thematically, et cetera — and yet I dread the day I first re-watch it. Already prepping for the nightmares.

Recent reviews

Review by lomaxcross ★★★★

This is a pretty stunning film. Spellbinding cinematography and sound. The performances of the entire cast is astonishing as well. I particularly liked the way in which the young cast was photographed.
The first hour or so of the film is so arresting, from the almost phycadelic setting to the ambiguous nature of the conflict we are watching. The lack of clear explanations adds to this almost fantastical other worldly feel. Its both beautiful and unnerving to watch the monos in their camp above the clouds. For 50 minutes to an hour it left me completely clueless as to where this story could be taken.
Once the film shifts setting and sets up some of the themes its looking to…
Review by Maria ★★★★

Moisés Arias, my favorite actor
Review by Manny ★★★★

Wild kids, doing wild things in this wild ass world
What a picture.
Review by J.D. Morales ★★★★

Away from it all, raised with discipline, pain and, above all, fear. Raised to follow orders, to be instruments, to not follow the norms of society, forced to share a space and engage in combat. An effort to send mankind to its most primal version, the one that’s more in touch with nature and instinct but much more violent, through a bunch of kids. Monos they’re called since birth, once a Mono you’re always a Mono, you carry your name, your pride and responsibility. You mustn’t disobey but nobody ever tells you what happens if you do. You never had a choice, you never had a voice and now suddenly you want it. Push the limits just a bit and...nothing,…
Review by buckley88 ★★★

Aside from 2 of them, all of the main actors had never acted in film before. That amazed me after watching. These were great teen performances. There are a number of engaging and thrilling scenes (Jesus the mosquitoes!) included in the first and third acts that kept me engaged. However, I did notice the pacing was off at times, especially in the middle. The score was strong and imagery quite beautiful. Nods to the Lord of the Flies ever present. This director is one to watch. Solid affair.
Review by Andrés Estrada ★★★★

Wished I had seen it in a theatre
Review by Andrés García ★★★★

COVID-19. Cuarentena viendo pelis #146.
Otra película en la cual tengo la necesidad de escribirla en español.
¡Qué tremenda película! ¡La amé! Muchas de estas cosas fluyen y encajan en una historia con un guión original de Colombia. ¡Las actuaciones son increíbles y la dirección es algo para alabar! Lo mejor es la cinematografía, cada cuadro es increíble y siento que nunca me aburrí en ninguna toma por que todo era muy bello y fascinante de ver. Solo viéndola uno se entretiene por mucho rato. Pero sí entiendo porque hay gente que no le gusta. Pero esto es la mejor representación del cine Colombiano que tenemos! ¡LA AME!
Review by Samuel Escobar ★★★★½ 1

As a Colombian, I have nothing else to say but how in love I'm with my country and how proud it makes me that Colombia makes films with the power and quality as this one. I'll write this review in Spanish, so I'll leave you with this, maybe it helps: translate.google.com/ (just copy and paste the following and translate it to your main language if you don't know Spanish.)
Monos es una pelicula sumamente poderosa que narra una realidad que a pesar de no ser la mas verdadera, o la que no nos acoje a todos, existe. En general monos es una propuesta sumamente poderosa del cine colombiano que llega para nuevamente demostrar el potencial que este tiene a la…
Review by hivancar

esta debería haber sido la última película que vea en el cine y no EL ROBO DEL SIGLO.