One of my personal favorites from this year's SXSW is the indie film The Light of The Moon. The film star sStephanie Beatriz as Bonnie, a young everyday woman who has a successful job in New York City, lives with her boyfriend Matt (Michael Stahl-David), and all in all, has a pretty good life until one night she is attacked and sexually assaulted by an unknown man after leaving a bar one night. The film depicts how her world is irrevocably turned upside down and keeping the attack a secret from her mom, friends, and co-workers while trying to sort out how this affects her relationship with her boyfriend Matt.
This is a gut-wrenching film. Thankfully the film gives us a much more toned down version of the actually attack, we are given a full on look into the life of a survivor. She is constantly torn between how she is supposed to feel, always desperately wanting her life to go back the way it was and at the same time knowing that it can never really be that way. The conflict with Matt also troubles things. He is doing his best to be the support system she needs, but that is hard when even she is not sure what she needs. Your heart definitely bleeds for them both and the frustration, anger, and uneasiness the couple both feel translates to the viewers in a big way. I loved how honest and open this film felt. It is was a great story about a difficult subject and it handles it better than most movies I have seen. neither dismissing the act or creating a character that is consumed by it. When there are so many women out there that you probably know and see on a regular basis who have been victims of this, but they do their best to stay strong and try their damnedest to not let that awful thing define who they are. This is their movie. The struggle and hurt and emotions are there, but they fight to move past this is also there next to it. Writer/director Jessica M. Thompson has does a great job with this story and I hope this film gets a chance for a wider release to give more people the opportunity to experience it.
We gave this movie a solid A. It has a meaningful story and great actors to back it up. it shows us imperfect people struggling with a hardship that they don't know how to get past. It is an emotional ride worth taking. Take the time and keep an eye out for The Light of The Moon.