Closet Monster (Canada)

At the outset, the film may seem like another coming-of-age story but the treatment of the film is quite different. Bit of style and a bit of fantasy intermixed with the normal storytelling methods makes this film an exciting watch. The way the treatment of the film was done, reminded me constantly of Xavier Dolan’s film. The film may not be everyone’s cup of tea but you will surely be impressed by the novelty of the treatment of the subject.

Oscar is really young when his mother decides to leave them & the parents separate. We find out later  the reasons but we see that the once loving father slowly becomes aloof an distant. He is probably gay even as a kid and he witnesses a hate crime happen to one of his schoolmates. On asking his father why did that happen, his father mentions that probably because the guy was gay and this makes Oscar further hides his sexuality. He starts dealing with internalised homophobia, specially also given the fact of what his father has always been telling him.. His only close friend is his classmate Gemma, on who he experiments with his artistry about makeup and she is probably the only one who knows the truth about Oscar. He also has had a hamster Buffy since he was kid, who talks to Oscar and they are each other’s confidant. Buffy is suppose to be his ‘spirit animal’, someone who is supposed to represent the true spirit of Oscar. When Oscar gets a job at a local store, he meets a young, attractive and mysterious man Wilber. Oscar finds himself having a crush on him. He starts feeling emotions, reactions of love so surreal that his real world starts merging with his fantasy world that he has had lived with ever since childhood. He cant love because the memories from childhood are so strong that psychologically he can’t get rid of them. When Wilber invites him to a costume party, his father stops him (by now realising that his son might be gay) but Oscar kicks him and still goes. He gets attention from guys including a kiss from Wilber but Oscar’s internal fears don’t let him deal with it. He decides to leave his father’s home because of whom , Oscar became what he is and decides to go live with his mother and get his life back in order.

As mentioned above, its the treatment and the direction that makes this film special. Oscar is suffocating with his father and his own homophobia and is longing to go to New York, which sadly also doesn’t happen. Its just the father and son staying together. It is interesting to see how the father-son relationship gets more and more distant over a period of time and only later you realise the reason is primarily because Oscar is afraid what his father may do of he knew the truth. The film, in a very interesting way, shows a hidden side of broken families and the inner turmoil of coming to terms with ones sexuality because of that. Oscar acted really well in the role of the confused teenager and the sexuality in the film is done in a very tasteful way. A simple screenplay but very well written, and the directing really impressive visually and thematically; especially from a first time film-maker.

This may not be a path-breaking cinema but definitely deserves to be seen. Coming out is never easy for anyone and when there are psychological reasons behind it; that makes it even more painful. (7/10)