As Roy attempts to take his own life in a cheap hotel room, he is stopped by the place’s employee, Jane, who comes dressed in a monkey costume. After some brief shenanigans and cursing, Roy leads Jane in an Airstream into a treasure hunt for his abusive father’s grave to fetch the dead man’s watch. Their plan will allow them to start anew away from the traumas and abusive relations that both Gen Xers have endured their whole lives in the indie feature ‘Sunlight’ (2024).
Most of the time, Jane is dressed in the monkey costume, and she explains the differences between Jane and the Monkey as they form two separate entities. The Monkey is a long-time character of the talented ventriloquist Nina Conti, who plays the role of Jane/Monkey, directs and is the co-writer of ‘Sunlight’ alongside Shenoah Allen, who plays the troubled Roy.
‘Sunlight’ doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects such as mental health and trauma, creating a new persona to cope with pain, child abuse, sexual abuse, codependency relationships, depression, anxiety, and the disappointments brought when middle age arrives and life goals are not achieved. The allegory of “The Monkey” as a means of coping with psychological distress is very effective. The film’s writing shares similarities with Lenny Abrahamson’s ‘Frank’ (2014) and Taika Waititi’s ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ (2016). Still, ‘Sunlight’ stands in a peculiar corner of indie cinema.
The sharp dialogue writing of Conti and Allen is fluid and vivid in the banters between the leads or their interactions with supporting characters. Jane and Roy are down-and-out losers, which makes their connection understandable from the get-go. The Monkey might be wearing a mask, but it is this plastic and fabric face that transmits the emotional state of such a hurt personality that it has to find a shield in a childish and iconoclastic persona to hide away from the burden much like Roy tried to find solace in a rope tied to the ceiling of a dilapidated pastel soaked room with tacky bed sheets and ornaments. Conti’s ventriloquism skills shine as they form the emotional core of The Monkey and its conflicts.
Allen’s Roy shares great chemistry with The Monkey and Jane, and their humanity is relatable even if they are too eccentric for the outside world and its ordinary people. Their sense of humor makes the dark subjects easier to digest while they still pack a punch for those who watch them, showing that there are different ways to tackle such harsh issues and relationships without resorting to trauma porn.
James Kwan effectively utilises his cinematographic knowledge by shooting the desert, which helps compose the story of a couple lost and isolated in their own minds, furthering the feeling that those who don’t fit in societal paradigms are pushed away but can also flow more naturally according to their own personalities. The soundtrack composed by Christoph Bauschinger helps set the scene and evokes a haunting Saturday morning cartoon theme, which complements The Monkey, the other characters, and the environment.
‘Sunlight’ is also a demonstration of the need to support and invest in indie cinema, as it tells the story of a neurodivergent middle-aged couple meeting at their lowest point. In contrast, the story where one who spends most of their time in a costume wouldn’t be viable in a major studio, and if so, they would have cast two A-listers, the moment’s pop act for the theme, still It would be forgotten as “the weird project” that those at the helm opted to take on to sound “cool” to young and diverse communities of viewers.
‘Sunlight’ also benefits from being an actual indie film, as it is allowed to employ a more experimental language, which makes it feel even more like Conti and Allen’s film, not just content. The Monkey brings fresh ideas in an era where even indie films are stale and safe. The scene has become just the minor leagues that young talents start to “play” while waiting for an invitation from a bigger studio or manager, while older and kidult names try to relive the glory of yesteryear festivals with endless “indie” sequels. This scene is a sign that the art of cinema is growing similar to competitive sports each day.
With its quirkiness and sincerity, ‘Sunlight’ has climbed its own spot on the tree of the art that is cinema, thus deserving to be talked about because it doesn’t lose its sense of what ‘Sunlight’ actually is, a good and quirky film with happy and sad moments and others where both emotions come into play.
