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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Monster
Verdict: Hooker kills tricks
London - May 04
109 min feature film 2003, colour
Monster is based on the true story of a Aileen Carol Wuornos, a prostitute serial-killer executed by electrocution in 2002.
At the start there are snapshots of Aileen Wuornos as a child and teenager – opening hearts to a child who fantasises about being a movie star (writes Cecilia Holmes). It’s the safe place in her mind where she retreats from the grinding reality of home-life: she’s being beaten and abused.
As an adult hooker, Aileen meets Selby in a bar. Aileen’s fuelled by alcohol and thoughts of suicide. Selby is younger - a naive church-going girl. They need love, and connect in an intense moment of loneliness. It’s a pivotal encounter.
They start a mother/daughter friendship, which fills an emotional space in each of them. Aileen’s amazonian build, contrasting with the petite stature of sloe-eyed Selby, adds to the feeling of warmth for the pair as they roller-blade on the rink for their first date. For Aileen, Selby recreates the part of her soul that childhood destroyed.
The engine of the story is Aileen's need to please Selby – and receive an innocent love in return. Their co-dependent love triggers Aileen’s destructive downward spiral. Her first murder is one of self-preservation. It’s in a wood, unseen, and she gets away with it. A punter beats and assaults her, ties her to the door of his car. Driven by her desperate need to see Selby again, Aileen breaks free and murders him.
The women drive from one motel room to the next. Aileen thumbs lifts, picks up tricks, guns them down, keeps their money and car – it’s cement to the increasingly disturbed relationship between the two women. Aileen’s spirit progressively disintegrates with the strain of providing her girl with money and fun.
Charlize Theron plays hooker Aileen Wuornos with astonishing depth of perception and apparent instinct, creating a film of shocking impact.
