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There is no more played-out genre in cinema than the coming of age story. You know what I’m talking about: a young person (boy or girl, of any race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) faces a challenge related to growing up and being an adult, and after some hardships and other things they learn something about themselves and life goes on. However, new director Stephen Dunn is here to add his own unique spin, and given that this (his first feature film, I might add) won the prestigious “Best Canadian Feature Film” at the Toronto International Film Festival last year my interest was piqued. Does this film break the mold? Let’s find out.
Closet Monster begins on the worst day of the young Oscar Madly’s (Jack Fulton) life: having just gone through the divorce of his parents Peter and Brin (Aaron Abrams and Joanne Kelly), he witnesses a vicious gay-bashing that scars him for life. Cut to several years later, and eighteen year old Oscar (Connor Jessup) is feeling suffocated in his hometown of St. John's, trying to use his talent for creating horror movie makeup to attend a university in New York City. Everything in his life changes when he meets Wilder (Aliocha Schneider), an enigmatic and playfully seductive young man who sparks his dormant and repressed homosexuality. As the comfortable world he’s created comes crashing down around him, Oscar must confront his strained relationship with his father and his inner demons if he’s going to be able to find true happiness and accept himself for who he is.
Honestly, Closet Monster is one of the strangest films I have ever seen in my life, and not in a bad way. It’s a coming of age story, a coming out story, it features Fight Club levels of mind screwery, some body horror scenes that look like David Cronenberg did them, arthouse direction and some really surreal imagery, and a talking hamster (incredibly voiced by Isabella Rosselini). And it somehow works, all thanks to the wonderful script by Dunn, which perfectly balances all of these elements to the point where you don't question why they are here. All of the characters feel like they have their own fully-realized personalities and the story has plenty of twists and turns to keep it from feeling stale, even though this is a story everyone can probably identify with regardless of who they are, since most of us know what growing up was like and the struggles that we had reaching adulthood. The most important thing about the script, in my mind at least, is that despite the dark material it still has a good sense of humor to balance it out, keeping it from getting too heavy and always keeping you invested.
Another reason that the film works well is because of the performances, all of which are great regardless of how big the role is. Joanne Kelly’s Brin is barely in the film, but all of her scenes carry a lot of weight as she plays the mother who left and is still dealing with an obstinate child who wants nothing to do with her. Sofia Banzhaf is also great as Oscar’s best friend Gemma, who serves as his confidant and a comfortable person to be himself around as well as being his test subject for his makeup. Schneider’s Wilder is a mystery throughout the entire film, with only a few scenes and some snippets of dialogue you hear every now giving him enough development to fill his role in the story: that first crush we all had who looks cute and acts cool, even if we know absolutely nothing about them. He has the charm to sell that character and make us fall for him just like Oscar does. Of course I can't neglect Isabella Rosselini as Buffy the hamster, who adds a lot of heart and humor to her voice-only role, a pivotal one for Oscar as the film develops.
The two people who really sell this film are Jessup and Abrams, who really embody the troubled father-son dynamic that Peter and Oscar have in an uncomfortably real way. In any other film Peter would be the evil, mustache-twirling figure who is overtly evil and clearly an obstacle that needs to be overcome, but that’s not the case in this film. Dunn’s writing and Abrams’ performance turns this tired role into a real person, one who clearly loves his son but can’t handle the responsibility of raising him, especially in the wake of his devastating divorce. Though you see his conflict with Oscar to the inevitable conclusion, you root for him to get it together the whole time, making the end with him even sadder than it already is. Jessup is given the most to do as Oscar and nails every moment of it, creating a character that we feel sympathetic towards and have hopes for but who can also be really rude and self-absorbed at times. While Oscar is gay, he doesn’t adhere to any gay stereotypes (he does have the mannerisms, but they are subtle enough that you might not notice them), and Jessup's work is so good that you feel the weight of the film's events even through his smallest gestures and facial expressions. It’s a wonderful performance that is a perfect foil to his work on American Crime and shows his versatility, guaranteeing a long career for him.
Despite all of these wonderful things (including the soundtrack, which is great), it is really Stephen Dunn’s direction that makes the film work. Right from the beginning the film feels a little off-kilter, letting you know that we are seeing the story through Oscar’s troubled eyes, reminding me of things like Fight Club or Mr. Robot (though a lot more subtle). The scenes with the hamster, the violent and gory imagery that comes as Oscar indulges his sexual desires, and even the twisting and bending reality that happens later on all makes sense through this context. It becomes clear to us that in order to bury the trauma of the past, Oscar has created a version of reality that can protect him, and even the tiniest cracks in that veneer (such as Wilder revealing that his beloved female hamster Buffy is actually male), threaten to bring all of it back to the surface. It takes a very talented and intelligent director to make this intense balancing act work, and the film never breaks or buckles under its own weight. The sheer amount of story that gets told through visual cues or imagery alone is very impressive, and the fact that this is a first-time director makes the film even more special. The film, outside of the more surreal stuff, is also well-shot and very beautiful, especially when Dunn gets to use some nice scenery shots of Newfoundland. You feel his passion for this film (partially based on events from his own childhood) in every frame, but unlike the other passion project I’ve seen recently he has the talent and, most importantly, restraint to make it all work. This is a debut unlike any I’ve seen in awhile and I applaud him for this wonderful film.
In the negatives category I only have one complaint that is personal and not a real problem with the movie. I wish that we could have seen more of Peter’s relationship with the older Oscar, similar to what we saw with the younger version. We see the troubled yet loving relationship between the two in that time, but once Oscar is older all we really see of the relationship is the conflict and none of that love from before. I feel like the conclusion of that story would have been more impactful for me had we seen Peter care more for him and show some genuine love.
The Your Mileage May Vary section of this is more than usual. First off, if you’re squeamish about gay movies then you’re missing out, but you’re not going to enjoy this. Second, the gory scenes come out of nowhere and are quite horrifying, breaking the flow we’ve been following in the story and really putting some images in my head that I’ll be seeing in my dreams for a long time. Third, those who aren’t able to get past just how weird the film is or can’t really see themselves liking what I’ve described should steer clear, though I think you should give the film a chance regardless of these three factors.
I honestly can’t say enough good things about this film, guys. After this year of boring Hollywood garbage and some so-so remakes, Closet Monster came in to reignite my interest in films and writing in a way I haven’t experienced since I saw Blue Ruin. This film takes us on a journey through the mind of a haunted young man trying to come to terms with who he is and his place in the world, and it forces you to sit and feel the weight of each and every hit that he takes as well as letting us rejoice in his triumphs. It’s truly one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen and I highly recommend that if you can see it, see it as soon as possible. You will not regret it, I promise you.
My Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Closet Monster is in select cities now, and is available for pre-order on Amazon and iTunes now.
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