First ‘Blonde’ Reviews Praise Ana de Armas’ Performance as Marilyn Monroe: ‘Almost Scarily Committed to the Role’

thewrap.com:

Sophie Monks Kaufman of IndieWire writes that Dominik doesn’t quite give enough effort in saying or showing something about the pop culture icon. “The film is Dominik’s finger pointed at everyone who had a hand traumatizing his leading lady, from her mother trying to drown her in the bath aged 7 to her death from an overdose of barbiturates at 36 after being used and abused by the Hollywood machine,” Kaufman adds.Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson also points out the exploitation employed in the movie, noting the “boldly and complexly mounted” technique “could actually be in service of something far simpler and more base.”“‘Blonde’is a film partly about exploitation that might be exploitative itself.

If the film is aware of that meta function, then there’s something interesting happening in it,” Lawson’s review continued. “If not, and Dominik thinks he is genuinely ennobling Monroe and expressing some kind of radical pity for her, then ‘Blonde’ is a little perverse.” Of de Armas’ performance, Lawson adds: “De Armas is fiercely, almost scarily committed to the role, maintaining high and focused energy through every torrent of tears and screams and traumas.”Some critics point toward the technique and tone of the film clashing with de Armas’ commitment to portraying Monroe, since the Monroe in this story doesn’t have much agency.“[Ana] de Armas fulfills the mission of Dominik’s film, crafting a vivid and frightening picture of the madness of fame,” Lawson writes.

According to critics, the haunting, almost three-hour film follows many painful moments in Monroe’s career.“Ana de Armas doesn’t inhabit the role of Marilyn Monroe.