Film Review: The Light of The Moon Shows The Darkness of Rape

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Synopsis: Bonnie, a young and successful Latina architect, is sexually assaulted while walking home from an evening out with friends in Brooklyn. At first, she attempts to keep the assault a secret from her long-term boyfriend Matt, but the truth quickly emerges. Bonnie emphatically denies the impact of what has just happened to her. She fights to regain normalcy and control of her life, but returning to her old life is more complicated than expected. Her attempt to recapture the intimacy she previously had with Matt falters and cracks begin to surface in their relationship. Another attack in the neighborhood only drives Bonnie further into denial, before an encounter with an at-risk woman causes her to face the truth and confront her own self-blame.
There are movies that go beyond good or bad. They go for truth. The Light of The Moon, written and directed by Jessica M. Thompson, is a film that reaches phenomenal proportions of honesty. When a heinous act is committed on a person, it changes their life, but it is up time, personal strength, and the growing love you find in a few good people to assure that that change can be for better.

Stephanie Beatriz as Bonnie is gutting. She plays the frailty and fear that stems from being raped with a raw honesty that made you wonder, “Has she been a victim, too?”. Yet, most importantly, her portrayal shows how a vicious, physical act can break and alter an incredibly strong spirit. Bonnie is kind, ambitious, funny, and perseverant before her horrendous attack, of which, through her noble boyfriend Matt (played kindly and charmingly by Michael Stahl-David) and her funny, loyal best friend Jack (played by scene-stealer Conrad Ricamora), she begins to find the beauty of her heart again amongst the brokenness of it. Nowadays, sexual assault and rape are coming to the forefront as the atrocities they are, but we have a long way to go until we fully understand how a man’s horrendous and painful entrance into a woman’s body leaves your soul scarred but still capable to heal. Note, I did not say touching; I said entering because that is what rape is and what The Light of The Moon displays. Someone enters your body, and thus your being, which takes a lot out of you and the ones that love you. As the film progresses, you witness Beatriz’s relationships become affected by the healing fracture in her mind/ spirit that she must confront ; she is an unwilling victim.

Thompson’s movie is such a triumph for me. Although society struggles to see rape as a heart-wrenching attack, its victims are struggling to see it as one they can fully heal or overcome. Bonnie’s story shows it is a slow, hard process that might not ever end, but healing does not have a destination, despite, having heights to achieve. Watching Beatriz play Bonnie brought tears to my eyes. The film is beautifully shot and casual in pace/potency. It is not IN YOUR FACE or even trying to make you feel bad that you, literally, watched an amazing human being be taken, beaten, raped, and then probed by cops and family like it was her fault. We all know the “blame the victim” approach is alive and well in this world because we always ask the stronger ones to make up the difference for the weaker party, i.e. the rapist. Thus, what Thompson focuses on is assuring that victims know you are not the weak one, but the strong one, and you can find your resilience again by redefining it as a survivor. Just writing that statement and thinking of the majesty of this film makes me want to applaud Jessica M Thompson for a stellar work that aims for humanity rather than cinema.  Pleas WATCH THIS FILM! I know “important” can be a loose term, but understanding is not. Check out The Light of The Moon In Theatres.

 

 

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Published by Diandra Reviews

Reviewing The Entertainment World For The Light It Gives