Patty Jenkins, hey? What a weird career. Monster, then not much for a really long time, and then two Wonder Woman movies, both of which are… let's go with flawed. There is literally nothing to compare these films. Aside from the women at the centre of them, but contrary to some viewpoints, “female led” isn't a genre.

One of the interviews included on the new Blu-ray release from Second Sight has Patty Jenkins claiming that she's a better director now than when she made Monster. I'm not sure many of us can agree with her if we're honest. Contemporary featurettes show her as an involved, obsessive guerrilla filmmaker, passionate about her subject, burying herself in accuracy, research, and raw attention to detail. Where was that in some of the first female led superhero films of the current wave? Somewhere in the comics maybe, but certainly not on screen.

But we're not reviewing Wonder Woman here, or Patty Jenkins herself, but Monster. The biopic nobody knew they needed, one which forced audiences to sympathise with the woman dubbed “America's first female serial killer”. Contrary to most stories, Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron) is the centre of this story. We see nothing of the police hunting her, or the victims' families in mourning. Most of these victims are completely unsympathetic, one you could say was even asking for it. Wuornos is endlessly sympathetic, and seemingly trapped in a cycle she is ill equipped to escape from.

In the midst of this, Wuornos meets Shelby Wall (Christina Ricci) a small and quiet young woman seemingly trapped in her own tragic cycle. They go on the run together, Shelby living a fantasy life with Wuornos miraculously taking care of her, and Wuornos escalating her behaviour to compensate for Selby's whims. There is something of the great American tragedy to this, and comparisons to Badlands and True Romance wouldn't be misplaced. The pop soundtrack emphasizes this, as they both seem disconnected from reality. Under the illusion that they can move somewhere warmer, richer, and better and instantly improve on their situation. Despite having no funds or education between them.

There are many references to the way things are set up in the states to keep people in their designated class. Wuornos's attempts to get even the most basic of jobs are met with ridicule and abuse, and with each move forward she ends up back where she started. Turning tricks and murdering her Johns.

Both Theron and Ricci are in career defining performances here. At the time of release there was a lot of press around Theron becoming “ugly” for a role, and perhaps by her standards she does, but what makes her portrayal of Wuornos profound is the vulnerability she brings to it. It isn't her added weight, the skin or the teeth that makes her embody this complicated serial killer. Bonus features on the disc go into the work Theron put in alongside Jenkins to study Wuornos, reading her personal letters and visiting her haunts. Ricci plays a fictional character, based on Wuornos' real companion, but is no less stunning. Her usual confidence and large mind in a small body is nowhere to be seen her. She is meek and childlike, belying a certain level of manipulation and culpability for her lover's crimes.

You'd be hard pushed to find another serial killer film like this one. Particularly about a real person. The moral question always stands, should we sympathise with killers? Should we glorify them? In the case of Monster, she is never glorified, and the tragedy of her story is in her powerless against it. We can criticise her and her decision making, but the fact of it is she simply doesn't have the skills or the emotional strength to manage her behaviour or avoid her fate.

As such, it's a bleak watch, but a worthy one.

Special Features

Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Patty Jenkins, Actor / Producer Charlize Theron and Producer Clark Peterson
Making a Murderer: a new interview with Director Patty Jenkins
Producing a Monster: a new interview with Producer Brad Wyman
Light From Within: a new interview with DoP Steven Bernstein
Monster: The Vision and Journey
Based on a True Story: The Making of Monster
Deleted and Extended Scenes with Director Commentary
Monster: Evolution of the Score
Original Trailer
English subtitles for the hearing impaired

Limited Edition Contents

Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Daniel Benneworth-Gray
Soft cover book with new essays by Anton Bitel, Hannah Strong & Shelagh Rowan-Legg
6 collectors' art cards

Monster will be released on Limited Edition Blu-ray from Second Sight on August 15th.