Filmed in the tiny WA towns of Roslyn, Easton and Cle Elum, Monarch City obliquely observes, but does not comment on, the lack of meaningful opportunities available to those who live in such places and how, through alcohol, music, clothes and makeup, they each wear various forms of armour against the world. Whilst there is a well-established economy of iconography surrounding the economically deprived in the Midwest and the Appalachians, Monarch City's emergence from Washington state complicates simple binaries of Red vs Blue states, especially post-2016. Nevertheless, the film failed to strike an emotional chord with this viewer, and I was left feeling a little bit directionless—no doubt like the characters themselves.
Synopsis: A family divided. Surrounded by decay and despair in their dying small-town, each family member follows their own path and searches for an exit before the window of hope closes.