Beautifully rendered film Monica portrays trans woman’s return to her terminally ill mother

After seeing Monica, the new film by Italian writer-director Andrea Pallaoro, I’m sure opinions will be divided. Shot in a narrow aspect ratio and composed almost entirely of static shots, Monica could be dismissed as a chilly exercise in rigid formalism. Other (harsher) critics will label its heavy subject matter and infrequent bursts of levity an endurance test of unrelenting miserabilism.