Filming wraps Thursday, Aug. 5, on Monica, the third feature film shooting here in the past two months, Film Cincinnati announced Monday.
Oscar nominees Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April) and Adrianna Barraza (Babel), plus Trace Lysette (Transparent, Hustlers) and Emily Browning (American Gods, A Series Of Unfortunate Events), have been filming in East Walnut Hills, Hyde Park, Carthage, Newtown and other area locations.
Production began here Wednesday, June 30, by Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, according to Cineurpoa. That means Monica started shooting a month after movie companies resumed production here during the coronavirus pandemic with Timothée Chalamet'sBones And All on May 28 and Rebel/Rebelon June 10.
“Our office has been busy the last few months keeping in contact with production crews like this one so we would be ready to shoot in Cincinnati as soon as it was safe,” said Kristen Schlotman, Film Cincinnati executive director, in Monday's media release.
Lysette – whose credits include Pose, Drunk History and Colors of Ava – plays the title character who returns home to the Midwest for the first time in 20 years to care for her ailing mother (Clarkson). The film explores abandonment, aging, rejection, acceptance and forgiveness, Deadline says.
Deadline announced last week that Josh Close (Fargo, Person of Interest) joined the cast. He also has been seen in The Blacklist, Animal Kingdom, In Their Skin, Justified, The Unusuals, Kill The Messenger and Life As We Know It.
Clarkson's credits include The Green Mile; George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck; House of Cards; Six Feet Under; Sharp Objects; State of the Union; Frasier; The Station Agent; Shutter Island; Far From Heaven; and High Art.
Barraza, who has appeared in many films in her native Mexico, is best known in the United States for roles in Thor; Rambo: Last Blood; Drag Me To Hell; Here On Earth; Snowfall; and The Strain.
Browning's credits range from Sleeping Beauty to Sucker Punch; Legend; Stranded; and God Help The Girl.
Pallaoro wrote the script with his longtime writing partner Orlando Tirado. He also directed Hannah starring Charlotte Rampling in 2017.
Monica is receiving co-production support from the Italian Ministry of Culture, Deadline reported. Pallaoro is a producer along with Christina Dow, Eleonora Granata-Jenkinson and Gina Resnick. Schlotman said the executive producers are Andrei Epifanov, Steve Stanulis, David Schwarz, Julien Bourgon, Dru Davis, Christina Sibul and Karen Tenkhoff.
