Despite some narrative lines that go nowhere and subplots that float without ever settling, the fabulous acting ensemble breathes life to the plot and gives dimension to the film. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 26, 2023

The downfall of "Son of Monarchs" is that it tries to pack in too many subplots that aren't given time to be developed.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Jun 27, 2022

It is a film that asks the audience to work for the deeper emotional breakthroughs, but once there the feature feels worth the work.

| Feb 22, 2022

This is not a stressful watching but a contained, introspective experience that stresses issues like social identity and trauma.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 13, 2021

While it can't stick the landing, it's got more than enough unique merits to make the film worth the trip.

| Nov 12, 2021

Richly thematic and symbolic story of the parallel migrations of a Mexican scientist and the butterflies from his home region.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Nov 7, 2021

The well-acted drama Son of Monarchs draws interesting parallels between butterfly transformations and what can happen when immigrants start a new life in another country. The movie is also about dealing with trauma and [having more than one nationality].

| Nov 2, 2021

If the end result is at once too obtuse and too didactic, it nevertheless remains a powerful, necessary intervention whose intellectual rigor and emotional heft cannot be denied.

| Oct 20, 2021

It's really quite a beautiful and thought-provoking film.

| Oct 19, 2021

Written and directed by Alexis Gambis, Son of Monarchs is an expertly crafted visual experience that weaves disparate themes and images.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 17, 2021

The ideas can be powerful, but at some point it's almost like the film is trying to prove how much mileage it can get out of a concept that other movies would only use as a meaningful character trait.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 15, 2021

Despite suffering from the creator's impulse to overstuff themes, the film rises above the fold for its wholehearted performances and the colloquially naturalistic quality of the dialogue.

| Oct 15, 2021

It's a powerfully dramatic exploration of who we are through the eyes of someone forever trapped straddling an invisible line between worlds that aren't so far apart.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 14, 2021

The film's rich imagery will be imprinted in your memory, returning to you in dreams.

| Oct 13, 2021

Son of Monarchs can seem more conceptually elaborate than emotionally involving, or pointed. But it's still an accomplished and original work.

| Aug 9, 2021

"Monarchs" doesn't always work but it's always intriguing.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 2, 2021

The film, by the French-Venezuelan Gambis, also a biologist, holds one's interest. The images of New York and Mexico, along with the beautiful monarch butterflies, are striking.

| May 1, 2021

If you are looking for a story with cinematography that highlights the beauty of nature, uses sound to entrance the audience, all while telling the stories of characters that feel real and complex, check out this film if given the chance.

| Mar 18, 2021

Despite some pacing issues, Son of Monarchs serves as a heartbreakingly layered depiction of an immigrant's journey to rediscover a fractured identity.

| Original Score: B | Mar 12, 2021

This film blew my entire existence away. Touching on social topics on both macro & micro levels through the usage of butterflies as well as genetics is brilliant and fascinating. I've never seen myself accurately represented in any film until now.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 6, 2021