Direction: Alexis Gambis
Country: Mexico / USA
It’s not entirely by chance that Son of Monarchs, the sophomore feature film by the French-Venezuelan writer-director Alexis Gambis, employs biology and experimentation as notable elements surrounding the core drama. The director is a biologist as well as the founder and artistic director of the Imagine Science Film Festival.
The story revolves around Mendel (Tenoch Huerta), an up-and-coming Mexican biologist living and working in New York, where he researches and modifies pigments, scales and patterns of butterflies’ wings. His passion for and commitment to these animals come from childhood. In his Michoacán hometown village, he was often transfixed while observing a whole bunch of monarch butterflies in the company of his older brother, Simon (Noé Hernández). Regretfully, he and his brother broke ties since he departed to the US.
Many years have passed since then, and only the death of his dear grandmother (Angelina Peláez) compels Mendel to return. His brother is still resentful, and the traumas of the past promptly surface. They’ve been serious obstacles in his life, and we are told that in two occasions: when his work lands on the cover of a prominent science magazine and when he meets Sarah (Alexia Rasmussen) in New York, a woman he’s attracted to. Mendel’s volatile mood rings true. He seems unable to fully enjoy his achievements without resolving the inner complexities that have been tormenting him.
There's a poetic rhythm and sensitive touch to the bittersweet melancholic tone, and the fact that the film displays less perspective shifts than many films within the genre is not a problem. What works less well in this hybrid slice of life is the articulation within the structure and the reconnection scene between the brothers, whose awkwardness removed any sort of emotion.
Nonetheless, I slouched back with my head resting on the top of the seat because this is not a stressful watching but a contained, introspective experience that stresses issues like social identity and trauma. Considering all the facts, the low-key Son of Monarchs is passable.
