Knives Out<\/a>, Ana de Armas, slipping into Monroe\u2019s iconic attire (Lily Fisher plays the actress as a child), this near three-hour feature is like the MeToo version of Monroe\u2019s story.<\/p>\nIt highlights the various ways in which she was abused and exploited: from life with her mentally ill mother Gladys (grittily played by Julianne Nicholson); her horrific introduction to Hollywood; and beatings at the hands of her paranoid second husband, the New York Yankees baseball star Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale).<\/p>
We see Monroe find sexual and emotional satisfaction from a m\u00e9nage \u00e0 trois with her friends Cass and Eddy (Xavier Samuel and Evan Williams), the disaffected sons of two Hollywood icons (Charlie Chaplin and Edward G Robinson) \u2013 a potentially salacious detail that Dominik does something interesting with.<\/p>\n
The shock value of such content is countered by the sensitive and soul-searching work of lead De Armas; her grasp on Monroe\u2019s accent may not be entirely assured \u2013 it comes and goes a little \u2013 yet she\u2019s enough of a bombshell to physically convince, performs as if possessed by the star, and retains our sympathy throughout.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s almost no part of this movie that isn\u2019t sad, with glimmers of hope that Monroe might find happiness especially heart-breaking, knowing what we know. The actress\u2019s third and final marriage, to celebrated playwright Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody), offers her the potential for escape, before a miscarriage sends her spiralling, while her increased dependency on drugs during this time places her on the path that will ultimately lead to her death.<\/p>\n