Dakota Johnson is turning heads as Marilyn Monroe in a striking first-look image from Flesh Impact, a 17-minute short film headed to the Venice Film Festival in September.
Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the film takes a different route from the conventional Hollywood biopic. Instead of simply recreating Monroe’s famous appearance, the project explores the woman behind the image and the mythology that has surrounded her for decades.
Johnson portrays Monroe at 36, the same age the legendary actress was when she died in 1962. Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn, meanwhile, portrays a fictionalized older version of Monroe.
Dakota Johnson Steps Into Marilyn Monroe Role
The first image from Flesh Impact gives audiences an early look at Johnson’s transformation into the Hollywood icon.
The resemblance is striking, but Gyllenhaal initially questioned whether Johnson looked enough like Monroe to take on the role. That hesitation eventually gave way to a broader realization about how difficult it is to define Monroe’s actual appearance after decades of photographs, films and pop-culture portrayals.
“Then I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous. Who cares?’” she told Vanity Fair. “I don’t know that anyone even really totally knows what Marilyn looks like because she’s been so commodified and made into this myth, and she’s very blurry in my mind.”
That perspective appears to sit at the heart of the short film. Rather than attempting to reproduce every recognizable detail of Monroe, Gyllenhaal uses the character to examine the distance between the real woman and the larger-than-life persona audiences came to know.
Flesh Impact Looks Beyond The Blonde Bombshell
At just 17 minutes, Flesh Impact takes an unconventional approach to Monroe’s legacy.
The film blends reality and imagination while examining Monroe’s identity, her legacy and the complicated experience of being an actress. The story was developed as part of a celebration surrounding what would have been Monroe’s 100th birthday.
Johnson’s casting also creates an interesting contrast with Burstyn’s portrayal. One actress represents Monroe at the age when her life ended, while the other portrays an imagined older version of the star.
The result is less about recreating a familiar Hollywood figure and more about questioning how that figure has been remembered.
Maggie Gyllenhaal Wanted To Reclaim Monroe’s Story
Gyllenhaal has long been fascinated by Monroe, making the project a personal creative opportunity as well as a celebration of the actress’s legacy.
“I’ve always been fascinated by Marilyn Monroe,” Gyllenhaal said in a press release. “So, when Genesis first came to me with the idea of a celebratory project for her centennial, I knew I wanted to work together on bringing this story to life.
“With ‘Flesh Impact,’ we showcase the timeless icon we know and love through a modern lens that reclaims her story,” she added.
The filmmaker’s comments point to a central goal of the project: looking at Monroe through a contemporary perspective rather than simply repeating the familiar Hollywood narrative.
Flesh Impact Heads To Venice Film Festival
Flesh Impact is scheduled to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.
The short arrives as another cinematic interpretation of Monroe’s life and image, but Gyllenhaal’s film appears determined to move beyond the platinum-blonde hair, red lipstick and bombshell persona that have long defined the star in popular culture.
For Johnson, the role offers a chance to inhabit one of Hollywood’s most recognizable figures while allowing the film to question just how much the public truly knows about the woman behind the legend.
