Blonde Review: Ana de Armas Hypnotizes in Hollow Marilyn Monroe Tribute

In the years since making her debut in English-language films, Ana de Armas has earned herself a passionate following, with her talents as a performer often making her the breakout star of any project she takes part in. From Blade Runner 2049 to Knives Out to No Time to Die, she's an electrifying performer, managing to steal scenes from some of the biggest names in Hollywood. After excelling in a number of ensembles, de Armas fully takes center stage in Netflix's Blonde from writer/director Andrew Dominik, bringing to life the legacy of Marilyn Monroe, who is unquestionably one of the most famous figures in all of pop culture. Despite the project being poised to take de Armas into superstardom, the narrative itself is unwieldy and superficial, failing to offer the star the material she deserves.

As opposed to a standard biopic, Blonde largely focuses on the struggles faced by Norma Jeane Baker (de Armas) in her quest for love and the acceptance of her on-screen persona "Marilyn Monroe" among her family and with her potential romantic partners. Even with the fame and fortunes of becoming a famous model and movie star, these public accolades and adoration fail to make up for the absences she's felt in her life since she was a child, as Norma Jeane constantly sacrifices her own best interests in pursuit of filling those voids.

Purely from a conceptual level, Blonde is a confounding idea that is ambitious at best and dangerously misguided at worst. The film itself isn't so much based on the actual Norma Jeane Baker, as it is instead based on the novel Blonde from author Joyce Carol Oates, which itself is a fictionalized take on the actual figure's life. While there are assuredly similarities between historical fact and the events of the story, there are a number of creative liberties taken to make a compelling read as opposed to being an authentic account of the actor's trajectory. With Dominik then writing the screenplay based on that novel, he's offered the chance to take even more detours from the actual events in Baker's life, feeling like a game of telephone that emphasizes the figure's more salacious exploits. 

Anyone looking for a respectful or nuanced examination of Baker's life should look elsewhere, as Blonde instead highlights the emotional and physical traumas and manipulations that Baker has suffered, feeling more like a walk through a carnival-style haunted house of Baker's most painful struggles. Given how the estate of Marilyn Monroe is comprised of individuals with only tenuous connections to the celebrity, and that the estate has been able to profit off of Monroe's image being slapped onto every imaginable piece of merchandise, Blonde being billed as any sort of genuine reflection of the star's life feels as authentic as any bootleg t-shirt purchased on Hollywood Boulevard. However, for those who can separate fact from fiction, Blonde delivers a dizzying, hypnotic, and nightmarish cautionary tale about the exploitative nature of the celebrity industry.

Poised to be a breakout vehicle for de Armas, it's even difficult to cite Blonde as this, as the actor spends much of the film being thrown from one abusive relationship to the next, constantly seeking approval from those taking advantage of her. De Armas is undeniably a tremendous talent, as evidenced in a number of other films, while also making the most out of the limited emotions Blonde offers her. She is clearly a fearless performer, subjecting herself to bringing the darkest moments of Norma Jeane's exploits to life, which includes physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. De Armas even agreeing to appear in the film shows her professional convictions, as it would be a short list of her peers that viewers could see offering themselves up to the challenge. She not only makes the most out of the limited material, but does so with empathy and nuance, an especially impressive feat given the torturous journey her character embarks upon.

Dominik's visual storytelling throughout the entire film is nothing short of stunning, using virtually every filmmaking tool at his disposal. From opening sequences of characters walking through snowstorms of ash as infernos blaze behind them to making sequences feel immensely intimate despite Marilyn being surrounded by hordes of characters, the filmmaker has added yet another gorgeous project to his legacy. Anyone familiar with his work on projects like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford or his documentaries focusing on Nick Cave won't be surprised by just how lush the film is, with newcomers sure to be enraptured by the cinematography. 

One of the more perplexing choices was an ever-changing aspect ratio, running the gamut of 1:1 to 2.39:1. While other filmmakers have explored such shifts to establish various realities or points in time, these changes feel much more arbitrary, as opposed to being used to delineate anything. Despite those seemingly arbitrary shifts, they do evoke the embrace of all of the formats in which Marilyn became an icon, centering her in the frame similarly to how she stole the spotlight in professional photos, paparazzi pictures, and on the big screen. 

Speaking of Cave, he and Warren Ellis crafted the film's score, which heightened the ethereal and otherworldly tone of the film, evoking the works of Vangelis or Tangerine Dream, while also transcending those works.

There are elements of Blonde that are truly astounding, namely the overall look and feel of a fictional celebrity's tragic descent into chaos in search of those human connections they thought fame could make happen more easily. De Armas is riveting to watch, and while she looks shockingly similar to Marilyn Monroe, the film is more rewarding when viewed from the perspective that we're watching an entirely fictional celebrity. When viewed as a nightmarish journey of the impact of fame, Blonde effectively conveys the emotional fallout of such a trajectory, making for one of the most arresting "biopics" in recent history. Though, as a tribute to the real-life figure of Norma Jeane Baker and the ways in which her industry and those closest to her not only failed her but also exploited her, even after her death, the film falls far short of the homage she truly deserves, oftentimes feeling as authentic a representation of the figure's ideals as any pop-art using the likeness of Marilyn Monroe you could buy at a department store.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Blonde is out now in select theaters before it hits Netflix on September 28th.