Bikini Moon is a provocative, multilayered mockumentary that highlights the worst parts of millennial liberalism.
Condola Rashad gives an awe-inspiring, performance as the film’s titular character, Bikini Moon Davis—a black, homeless war veteran battling mental illness. She is picked up as the subject of a documentary by a group of young filmmakers looking to score quick fame at an independent film festival. The crew puts her on path toward recovery, but only in a way that benefits their own narrative.
Bikini is charismatically unreliable—as a friend, a film subject and the story’s central character. She’s a Lady Lazarus kind of character, keeping everyone—including the audience—captivated by her self-destructive behavior.
Two supporting characters—Trevor and Kate—are a young couple seething with privilege and white guilt. Trevor, the crew’s director, who is only willing to help Bikini so long as he gets something in return. In contrast, Kate is naive and almost addicted to helping others, even when it hurts her in the end. The couple represent different ends of white, millennial liberalism. In the end, both are pushed to their limits by the reality of Bikini’s situation.
Director Milcho Manchevski presents all of this through of variety of viewpoints—including the all-too-familiar lens of a mobile device. Captured with a changing New York—battling hipsters and gentrification—Bikini Moon is a modern experience that taps into the ugliness of our voyeuristic culture.
Bikini Moon
Sat, Mar 3, 4:45pm, 3B | Sun, Mar 4, 4:00pm, 3B | Tue, Mar 6, 9:30pm, RWC 2 | Sat, Mar 10, 9:00pm, RWC 2
.Cinequest Review: 'Bikini Moon'
