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Charlize Theron stars as Aileen Wuornos, the infamous Florida prostitute who became a serial killer, in this film chronicling her last few months of freedom before being captured and executed in 2002. Writer/director Patty Jenkins doesn’t shy away from Wuornos’ crimes, but aims to paint a more complex portrait of the woman who committed them. Monster introduces us to Wuornos as she’s contemplating suicide, desperate to leave prostitution behind and to make a naive, desperate attempt at a straight life. Her salvation is Selby (Christina Ricci), a young woman she meets in a bar and who is instantly smitten with her. The two try to make a life for themselves, but Wuornos is unable to get any employment and resorts to her old ways. When one john gets violent and threatens to kill her, she retaliates with lethal force, beginning a downward spiral from which she never returns.

The heart of the movie is the relationship between Wuornos and Selby. Rather than try to paint it as anything other than what it was, Jenkins shows us a relationship built on sincere infatuation on Selby’s part, and on Wuornos’, a desperate attempt to make good for someone — a last ditch effort to prove that she is both lovable and capable of love. Monster is a compelling character study and Theron gives a fearless performance that earned her the Best Actress Academy Award. With Bruce Dern.

Academy Award: Best Actress (Charlize Theron)