Closet Monster (2016)

People are voting emotionally.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This film starts out great by giving you limited plot summary and having great music in the trailer. The title sounds interesting and so does the plot summary. Cinematography in the film is your average indie film. It's fine. Music is okay. Dialog is also fine as well as the screenplay.BUT do not be mistaken this film and its protagonist (as well as the actor himself) are gay a.f. If you liked moonlight then you probably like this gay stuff (yes there is gay butt 8===3 stuff) as well.

Taking a leaf from Xavier Dolan's book, Canadian filmmaker (born in 1989, the same year of Mr. Dolan) Stephen Dunn's debut feature CLOSET MONSTER flourishes as a coruscating Bildungsroman of a young boy's coming to terms with his homosexuality, against its own threadbare script mired in corny dialogue and workaday characterization. An eight-year-old Oscar (Fulton) witnesses a horrific bullying of a gay boy which jolts him into building a carapace over his latent bent, things compound when his parents are getting a divorce, and he is mostly saddled with his homophobic father Peter (Abrams), who intends to chisel a macho man out of him (as if carpentry is the panacea). Ten years later, an adolescent Oscar (Jessup) spends most of his time creating special effects make-ups with his best friend Gemma (Banzhaf), and has his first crush on a new colleague Wilder (Schneider) in the hardware store where he works part-time (Oscar + Wilder, you don't say!). Battling his internal conflict (a hormone-driven sensation versus the stigmatized horror of getting aroused by a boy), Oscar takes it out on Gemma and the tension between him and Peter strains, after being rejected by the make- up school he applies for, he desperately needs to get out of the clutches of his parents and face his pestering inner demon, one way or another.Graphic visual effects are deployed to galvanize audience like a sub-Cronenberg's body-horror, there is something visibly churning inside Oscar's stomach whenever he is aroused, and later materializes itself as a metal pole perforating his belly, when he fumbles around his first sex attempt with a party boy, involuntarily he spews bolts, lots of bolts, of course, they are all figments of his heated imagination, including a talking pet hamster named Buffy (voiced by Isabella Rossellini), whom he cherishes more than anything else in the world since his childhood, because it is his only (imagined) friend knows his true colors. When Oscar finally takes the pole out of his body and is driven by a patricidal impulse, the slo-mo crescendo however, pans out like a bathetic bluff, the fear in his deadbeat father's eyes can hardly justify all the damage he has done. The psycho-sexual aspect bears down strongly on the story, but the rest is nothing but usual suspects, Connor Jessup makes for a passable lead and is at his best when the camera is floating around him rather than staring directly at him; both Aaron Abrams and Joanne Kelly appear too young to be parents of an 18-year-older, and the former fails miserably to even fake a fatherly affection when he is required. A solid start for an up-and-comer, but distinction is nevertheless a paucity in the end product, in the waves of a post-coming-out-of-closet fashion, Dunn's heartfelt story is blasé but mercifully grafts its emotional charge with something fluctuating between hope and honest.

There are some great qualities of this film: The soundtrack is amazing, the cinematography is great, and there are some interesting and unique themes. However I was mostly disappointing with the film.The main character, Oscar, is not particularly likable. He retains the "angsty teen" stereotype without many redeeming qualities to combat it; lots of whining, complaining, etc. On top of this, the storyline is a bit all over the place. There are so many different subplots going on all at once, and they don't exactly mesh together very well. Lots of scenes happen metaphorically, but are displayed literally. In some ways this is very successful, but some it feels either confusing, or too obvious.Overall I wouldn't necessarily suggest this movie, but I did enjoy some moments (the party scene was great).

Not a review, just wanted to point out that the person who gave a one- star review based on the lack of french-Canadian accents in this film..... this is not a french-Canadian film. This is a film made by a Newfoundlander, set in Newfoundland, written in Toronto, and only has one character in the entire movie who is supposed to be french- Canadian. Giving one star based on your interpretation of an accent, when that's not even the accent most actors are portraying is really, really lame. Personally, I truly enjoyed this film and it's twisted, dream-like format. The plot was semi autobiographical, and you can see the care and passion that everyone involved in the project put into it. Plus, who doesn't like a talking hamster?