The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


London Film Festival 2015

Closet Monster

London Film Festival 2015: Closet Monster | Review
16 October 2015
Harriet Clugston
Avatar
Harriet Clugston
16 October 2015
Public screenings
15th October 2015 6.30pm at Curzon Soho
17th October 2015 1.00pm at Hackney Picturehouse

Movie and show review

Harriet Clugston

Closet Monster

★★★★★

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

Special event

Brimming with personality, wonderfully odd and idiosyncratic, it’s truly hard to believe that Closet Monster is the debut feature of young Canadian director Stephen Dunn. In a relentlessly emotional coming-of-age story, Dunn explores the sexual awakening of his young male protagonist, whose repressed homosexual desires manifest both psychologically and physically, incorporating some intense and supremely clever body-horror; the result is an imaginative and nuanced take on the theme of homosexual alienation.

Young Oscar Madly (Jack Fulton) enjoys a close relationship with his doting father, Peter (Aaron Abrams), their family life seemingly so idyllic that one can’t help but judge his mother Brin (Joanne Kelly) harshly when she decides to leave them. Soon afterwards, Oscar witnesses a horrific attack on a schoolmate, who is left paralysed from the waist down: targeted, as Peter dismissively explains, because he was gay. Fast forward ten years and Oscar has grown into a creative and artistic 18-year-old, desperate to escape to New York with his best friend Gemma (Sofia Banzhaf) and get away from his casually homophobic father, who has become bitter, sullen and ultra-possessive. When he meets charismatic Wilder at his new job, Oscar begins to struggle with his sexuality (already obvious to everyone bar Peter), his palpable arousal stirring up a self-loathing, the roots of which lie in the trauma of his childhood.

Part of the originality of Closet Monster comes from the utilisation of some unusual but persuasive narrative techniques, not least of which is a talking hamster voiced (bizarrely) by Isabella Rossellini, apparently a projection of Oscar’s internal psyche. Though it takes a little while to get used to the hamster’s presence, it does provide a large part of the genial wit and emotional depth present throughout Closet Monster. Oscar’s psychological state is also illustriously represented through a remarkably inventive soundtrack, a mix of electronic beats that at key narrative moments reflect his mental crises through dynamic pacing and pitch. Whilst the camerawork is largely unexceptional, it does come into its own during an MD propelled party scene, working with the climatic score to create a frenzied sense of self-actualisation.

The strange mix of surrealist elements with an undeniable sense of realism works to create a genuinely authentic exploration of the connection between the mental and physical world. Whilst the gore scenes will have audiences squirming in their seats for obvious reasons, Closet Monster is equally physically affecting in other aspects, from awkward encounters that will leave one cringing as though one’s own, to the uncomfortably stirring handling of the father-son bond; this is a film that sucks its viewer into its visceral, vivid world, making for an immersive and electrifying viewing experience.

★★★★★

Harriet Clugston

Closet Monster does not have a UK release date yet.

It is part of the Dare competition at the 59th London Film Festival.

For further information about the 59th London Film Festival visit here, and for more of our coverage visit here.

Watch the trailer for Closet Monster here:

Related ItemsCloset MonsterLFF 2015review

More in Film festivals

Sherlock Gnomes premiere: A chat with James McAvoy, his co-stars and the film’s creators

Rosamund Kelby
Read More

Tribeca Film Festival 2018: On the red carpet with the stars of Westworld season 2

The editorial unit
Read More

Ravenous (Les Affamés)

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

All the Wild Horses

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Los Débiles (The Weak Ones)

★★★★★
Mark Mukasa
Read More

SPK Komplex

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

The Silent Revolution: An interview with Lena Klenke and Tom Gramenz

Oliver Johnston
Read More

The Silent Revolution: An interview with director Lars Kraume

Oliver Johnston
Read More

The Camino Voyage

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Harriet Clugston

Closet Monster

★★★★★

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

Special event

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Project Gastronomía: How will Londoners eat in 2050? A symposium on gastronomy and multisensory design
    Food & Drinks
  • Clare Smyth crowned the World’s Best Female Chef 2018
    Food & Drinks
  • Tokio Myers at the Forum
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Sherlock Gnomes premiere: A chat with James McAvoy, his co-stars and the film’s creators
    Cinema
  • The Outsider: An interview with director Thomas Meadmore
    Cinema
  • The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Prudes at the Royal Court
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Absolute Hell at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Wound (Inxeba)
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Clare Smyth crowned the World’s Best Female Chef 2018
    Food & Drinks
  • The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Prudes at the Royal Court
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Wound (Inxeba)
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Strictly Ballroom at Piccadilly Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Writer at the Almeida Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre

Instagram

Something is wrong. Response takes too long or there is JS error. Press Ctrl+Shift+J or Cmd+Shift+J on a Mac.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • New London restaurant openings and pop-ups
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Subscribe
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

London Film Festival 2015: Dheepan | Review
London Film Festival 2015: Ixcanul (Volcano) | Review