Performances as internal and understated as that of Trace Lysette, playing Monica, a transwoman returning to spend time with her terminally ill mother, might not be as eye-catching as the big showy awards contenders. But this is remarkable, delicate work from Lysette (Transparent, Hustlers) – a performance that deserves to be part of the year’s awards conversations.
Much is left unsaid in this empathic drama. Monica, it’s clear from the anguished voicemail messages she leaves for a former lover, is going through a painful breakup. She is also dealing with the accumulated trauma of a 20-year estrangement from her mother (Patricia Clarkson), who is now in the gruelling final stages of cancer. A call from the sister-in-law that Monica has never met (Emily Browning) draws her back home to care for a parent who doesn’t yet recognise the statuesque, striking woman as her absent child.
