The coming of age
story is part of cinema's foundation. Crossing national boundaries,
genres, and stylistic presentations, directors have been sharing their personal
experiences with audiences for decades. Stephen Dunn's fierce directorial
debut transmutes the standard "outcast overcomes all" story line into
a queer odyssey of self-discovery. Featuring a heartbreaking central
performance, surreal manifestations of teenage misadventures, and kaleidoscopic
visuals, Closet Monster is an undeniably sexy rumination on the dark wonders of
love and loss.
Dunn's screenplay
hinges on the performance of Connor Jessup . This young man's eager
embrace of the subject matter is apparent in virtually every scene, taking
protagonist Oscar through the emotional gauntlet. Jessup portrays Oscar
as flawed, petulant, talented, curious, and remarkable, the perfect mix to
convey the magic of the teenage experience. Closet Monster deviates from
its colleagues by staying grounded in possibilities (despite the dream like
elements), such as delving into the violent subject matter of hate crimes,
something that profoundly affected Dunn when he himself was growing up
closeted.
The supporting cast
includes Oscar's bigoted father (a pitch perfect Aaron Abrams), his wayward
mother (Joanne Kelley), loyal best friend Gemma (Sofia Banzhaf), a possible
love interest, played by the scene stealing Aliocha Schneider, and his talking
hamster, voiced by legendary Isabella Rosselini. One of the film's
strongest attributes is how it blends elements of fantasy, with realistic
uncertainty. Despite Oscar's father's bellicose tendencies, the audience
is given glimpses into the intimate side of his interactions with his son.
Relationships border on will they/won't they and never fully resolve
themselves, mimicking the truths of companionship and the sexual awkwardness of
teenagers. Physical encounters run the gambit from borderline assault in
one instance to self-fanning, pure sexual energy in another.
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| Okay. Who brought the hallucinogenics? |
The film is at its
best whenever Dunn leaves things to interpretation, as his remarkable
compositions; captured by Bobby Shore's magnetic cinematography, are easily
able to convey their meanings without explanation, a feat made possible by the
stellar camera work and Bryan Atkinson's delicate editing. Melanie
Oates's costumes and Tara Murphy's special make up effects enhance Oscar's
pubescent crucible with lavish outfits and makeup designs that Oscar creates
and photographs as a means of artistic escape.
If one looks hard
enough, there are flaws, but considering the emotional tie to the director,
coupled with the knowledge of this being a debut feature film, the final
product is not only a remarkable effort, but a profoundly relevant film for the
current age. The script is the weak sister, but it is overshadowed by
Jessup's charisma and the surreal hijinks that carry the film away from
overcooked melodrama and into the darker side of a gay boy becoming a man, an
uncomfortable experience fraught with danger, embarrassment, and ultimately
self-acceptance.
Available now on
Netflix, Closet Monster won best Canadian feature at the Toronto Film Festival.
This is a special film, a once in a lifetime debut that creates a
singular world inside the mind of a fragile poet, broken and bruised but not
out of the fight. Rubber banding between heartwarming and skin crawling,
this is one of the few movies to truly harness the realities of a teenager's
sexual awakenings. If you're interested in a homosexual psychedelic spin
on the classic coming of age tale, do not miss this one.
Score
Kyle Jonathan