Patty Jenkins began her filmmaking career working as a camera operator. Supposedly, while working on a Michael Jackson music video, Jenkins was encouraged to pursue directing. She entered the American Film Institute and directed two shorts, which attracted the attention of producers Brad Wyman and Donald Kushner. This would lead Jenkins to her first feature film. Aileen Wuornos, with her widely publicized (and inaccurate) status as America's first female serial killer, had already been the topic of one critically acclaimed documentary. Yet clearly Wuornos' true story inspired Jenkins. “Monster” was written in seven weeks, production set up in two months, and filming was completed in 28 days. The resulting film would be critically acclaimed, a box office success, and win its star an Oscar.
Aileen Wuornos, known as Lee to her friends, is a homeless prostitute in the American South. She is considering suicide, with the pistol she carries, but decides to go into a bar and spend the last five dollars she has first. There she meets Selby, a teenage girl on the outs with her religious parents due to her lesbianism. The loud and confrontational Lee is disarmed by the quiet, shy Selby and the two soon fall into a relationship. While trying to earn money to take care of Selby, Aileen is brutally attacked and raped by a john. She shoots the man, who clearly intended to kill her, to death. Aileen hopes to quit prostituting herself but, when she finds few other options to provide for her and Selby, she returns to sex work... And kills again.
The opening minutes of “Monster” shows Aileen as a happy child, looking at herself in the mirror. She relates her childhood dream of one day becoming a movie star. We then see a man violently yank her away from the mirror. Throughout the opening, as Wuornos' hopeful narration continues we see the grim reality of her young life. From the very first moment, “Monster” depicts how Wuornos had the normal comforts of life ripped away from her from the very beginning. She was left unloved and mistreated by the people around her. This provide context for the person she becomes, for the things she will do. “Monster” thrusts us into Aileen's world and asks us how we would have acted, if put in the same circumstances.
The factor at the center of the story, and its depiction of Wuornos, is never named but couldn't be more clear. Lee describes how she was molested as a child by a friend of her father, who refused to believe her and even beat her because of it. She talks about her homelessness, forced to turn to prostitution at a young age to take care of her siblings... Who were not appreciative or sympathetic. After the rape that spurns her first murder, she is clearly left shaken. When her sole friend in the world describes his experience coming from Vietnam, it all falls into place. Wuornos was left traumatized by a horrible life, clearly suffering from P.T.S.D. “Monster” contextualizes Wuornos' crimes as acts carried out by a mentally ill woman, reeling from a lifetime of abuse.
The first time Aileen kills, it's unambiguously depicted as an act of self-defense. The subsequent times she commits murder, she psyches herself up before each killing. You can see her mentally talking herself into believing each man is as bad as her rapist, that they all deserve to die. She attempts to justify her actions. In her narration, Aileen talks about the empty platitudes she's heard her whole life. About how all you need to do is follow your dreams or be kind, beliefs that have been rebuffed by the cruelty she constantly faced. In a key moment, Selby's aunt says people like Wuornos are lost causes. (She also claims to not be racist, after using a racist epitaph.) These are all justifications people tell themselves to get through life, another way “Monster” attempts to make us understand its murderer.
Most of the praise directed at “Monster” was meant for Charlize Theron, her performance and subsequent Oscar win too often being boiled down to “uglying up.” Granted, it is a stunning physical transformation, as Theron is totally unrecognizable. Yet this also overlooks her incredible display of acting. Theron stares, often unblinking, with eyes that are amazingly intense. Every word that comes out of her mouth is said with utter conviction. She makes us understand exactly what Aileen is feeling at every time. Every traumatized reaction is perfectly depicted through Theron's trembling body language or clench jaws. It's an impressive psychological and intuitive performance and the film wouldn't have worked without it.
Starring opposite Theron is Christina Ricci, as Selby. If Theron's blistering intensity is Aileen's defense mechanism to a lifetime of hurt, Ricci's Selby is unable to hide her vulnerability. Even in her first scene, she's a sad puppy that is just looking for someone to accept her. Ricci's massive eyes and doll-like face could not be better used. But Ricci is not just physically perfect of the role. She doesn't let us forget that Selby – based on Wuornos' real lover, Tyria Moore – is basically a kid. She can be selfish, bratty, or childish. Yet she also has a capacity for forgiveness. When most would've discarded Aileen immediately, Selby showed her love. Ricci brings that empathy to life wonderfully.
Similarly, the film's use of music is, sometimes, a little on-the-nose. Brian Transeau's score is full of quivering, ramping notes that build up the tension before the murder scenes, sometimes drowning out the actual dialogue. “Don't Stop Believing,” a song built upon exactly the kind of empty platitudes she rebuffs throughout the film, becomes Lee and Selby's song during a night in a roller rink. The first time they make love, “Crimson and Clover” plays, the dreamy guitar solo being stretched out. Yet, as overdone as some of these choices arguably are, they largely work. Transeau's score does increase the feeling of anxiety. Journey is ruefully reprised during the end credits. “Crimson and Clover” fittingly matches the light-headed feeling of falling in love. You can't fault this stuff when it works.
Ultimately, as it nears its conclusion, “Monster” reveals itself as more of a tragedy than anything else. After being arrested for the crime and awaiting trial, Aileen has her final phone call with Selby. While Lee describes never turning her back on her girlfriend, Selby is discreetly worming a confession out of Wournos on tape for the cops in the room. The killer is soon aware of this and clears her young lover of all wrongdoing. In the end, “Monster” shows Aileen Wournos being abandoned by almost everyone that showed her kindness. Okay, yes, she was a killer and a psychopath. Yet you can't help but feel some empathy for her, in moments like this. “Monster,” in its own way, becomes heartbreaking in these scenes.
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