Monica

At a young age, Monica (Trace Lysette) was kicked out of her home by her mother Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson). Now she lives alone, working as a masseuse by day and a video sex worker by night, stoically enduring the indignities of other people's interest in her, brushing off harassers, and navigating the pain of an absentee lover. Then her sister-in-law Laura (Emily Browning) invites Monica home to Cincinnati to visit her ailing mother, but when she gets there, Eugenia no longer knows who she is. Monica is a beautifully realised slow-burn drama depicting two characters mired in layers of complicated feeling as they find their way toward reconciliation. (Verve Pictures)