The Girl From Monday

Hal Hartley's no-budget sci-fi film is set in a not-too-distant-future New York taken over by the über-conformist consumer-driven dictatorship Triple M (Major Multimedia Monopoly), which has elevated consumerism into law. Jack Bell (Bill Sage), who works for the advertising agency that helped bring Triple M to power but doubles as a secret leader of the Counter Revolution—a movement of ragtag membership and goals—finds his rebellion interrupted by the unlikely appearance of an alien who literally falls from the heavens, lands in the ocean, and takes a strikingly beautiful human form (Brazilian model Tatiana Abracos). This film recalls elements of THX 1138, Alphaville, 1984, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Fahrenheit 451, yet Hartley, in fashioning a future in which individualism and emotion are stifled in favor of irresponsible consumerism and government-enforced conformity, has created a work all its own with more than a few parallels to contemporary America. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)[DVD Review—May 21, 2013—Olive, 84 min., R, $29.95—Making its second appearance on DVD, 2005's The Girl From Monday sports a fine transfer. Extras include a “making-of” featurette (20 min.), and a trailer. Also included on the disc is Hartley's 1998 The Book of Life, with extras including his 2004 short “Sisters of Mercy” (17 min.), a “making-of” featurette (13 min.), and a trailer. Bottom line: a welcome Hartley two-fer.]