SUNLIGHT Review: Taking This Monkey Show on the Road

We've likely all had very strange reactions to a great trauma in our lives, be it the death of a loved one, the loss of a treasured lover, intimate abuse. Or at least we might have thought about doing something crazy, or even becoming someone else. Letting someone else, some latent personality traits take over to do those strange things that you don't feel capable of.

That's what happens with one understandable traumatized, and in plain speak, (understandably) messed up person, and she takes someone along for this crazy ride, in Sunlight. Directed by Nina Conti, British actress and comedian most well-known for her appearance in For Your Consideration, and co-written by and co-starring Conti and Shenoah Allen, it's a road trip with some distinct twists. Based around Conti's ventriloquism act, carried by its terrific performances and the banter of the characters, it ranges from hilarious to raunchy to heartbreaking.

Roy (Allen), extremely unhappy with his life, is about to hang himself from the ceiling lamp of a roadside motel when he sees a Monkey — or more accurately, someone in a monkey costume — watching him from the window. The fall on the floor knocks him on unconscious, and when he wakes up, Monkey is driving his winnebago, telling Roy she just needs to get to Colorado. After some arguing he agrees, though she has to help him first get to his mother (to whom he had mailed a suicide note), and then to help dig up his dead father's grave so he can steal his watch to get money to start fresh.

Yes, Roy does refer to her as Monkey - since that's what she calls herself. Their first conversations are both ridiculous and hysterical, about Roy's (possibly former) job as a radio host, a detailed discussion of Monkey's panties, Monkey comforting Roy in her lap while making the movement that moves the mouth of her costume and also arouses Roy. Monkey seems more than a little crazy, definitely blunt and crude, but also fairly in control, with big dreams of owning a pontoon boat where she can take tourists on rides on an inflatable banana. Roy's own flagging sense of self is bolstered by Monkey's confidence and determination, and he's sure they can get this watch and split the money.

But of course, a person who decides to exist in a Monkey costume maybe has a dark reason to do so, and Monkey slowly reveals that Jane (the person inside) has had a difficult life, including abuse from her stepfather Wade (Bill Wise). Jane has basically decided that, since she keeps making bad decisions, it would be better if Monkey took the wheel, so to speak. Monkey is everything that Jane believes she isn't: smart, personable, capable. Roy finds that, even without a costume, he can let his latent anger come through when he's with Monkey, despite her oddity. Two traumatized people, finding a way through their pain, in behaving in ways they never could under 'normal' constraints of society.

It's not the first film to show someone disappearing behind a mask due to a pain they find themselecs unable to live with or express (the recent Frank comes to mind). And it's a scenario that a lot of people can relate to, and wish perhaps that they could do. To put either a real or proverbial mask on and slip into a character that you think has the qualities you lack, to forget about problems you think you've caused and disappear into someone else. It's not a good solution (at least not long term), but it's a relatable one, and Conti never lets us forget the great vulnerability that propelled Jane to let Monkey handle her life.

The film thrives in the chemistry between Conti and Allen, both when she's in her Monkey persona, and the few rare times when we get to see Jane. Their banter (which seems largely improvised, and if so, brilliantly so) stems from a kind of odd couple romantic comedy, but taken to a bizarre place where sexual innuendo is not so subtle, where that anger they both feel gives them a blunt but somewhat reassuring honesty, as they go to extremes to achieve these dreams that seem somewhat criminal but also completely logical. You can't help but cheer them on in their ill-advised adventures, just as you can't help but feel empathy when Monkey gets angry at Jane for making mistakes, or Roy for being naive.

There are moments when the energy drops a little too much; given that this is a road movie, some shots or montages of that journey, watching the winnabego from the road, are possibly expected, but it sometimes feels that Conti is putting these in out of an expectation, and she doesn't quite know how to fit them into the story in a way that works with the overall tone of bittersweet hilarity. And it perhaps takes a little too long to wrap up in the final scenes, to get to the much-wanted happy conclusion.

Sunlight brings the very unique humour and talents of Conti to the big screen, with a story and characters that are as bizarre as they are relatable. It's a road trip of aggressive oddities, born of quiet despair, that leads to deep connection and a lot of laughter.

Sunlight will release in theatres in the USA on Friday, June 6th.