Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Stephen Dunn
Cast
Connor Jessup,
Aaron Abrams,
Joanne Kelly,
Aliocha Schneider,
Sofia Banzhaf,
Jack Fulton
Genre
Drama
This surreal coming of age story follows the artistic and brave Oscar as he seeks to find comfort in his own homosexuality. Haunted by dark memories of his early childhood, Oscar desperately attempts to carve his own path for himself as he enters a turbulent and emotional part of his life.
Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein
Dunn juggles the story’s vital, at times fantastical narrative, eclectic imagery, and wellspring of human fears, flaws and desires with vision and confidence. But Jessup’s powerfully empathetic performance really seals the deal.
The New York Times by Ken Jaworowski
Connor Jessup wonderfully inhabits the teenage Oscar, who observes others while trying to find himself.
Village Voice by Chuck Wilson
[A] superb coming-of-age drama.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Barry Hertz
Dunn’s work is a far more fantastical feat, one that mixes slow-burn drama with a welcome Cronenbergian sensibility. Oh, and Isabella Rossellini plays a talking hamster. Just try to top that.
Variety by Dennis Harvey
Canadian writer-director Stephen Dunn’s first feature treads no new ground in basic outline. But the risk-taking confidence with which he weaves in sardonic magical-realist elements, not to mention his unpredictable yet assured approaches to style and tone, make this a most auspicious debut.
The Hollywood Reporter
Autobiographical but also singularly imaginative, this formally exuberant bildungsroman plays like a Gregg Araki film with a dash of Cronenbergian psychosomatic body-rebellion thrown in.
The Hollywood Reporter by Harry Windsor
Autobiographical but also singularly imaginative, this formally exuberant bildungsroman plays like a Gregg Araki film with a dash of Cronenbergian psychosomatic body-rebellion thrown in.
The Seattle Times by John Hartl
The ingenious cinematographer, Bobby Shore, uses the Newfoundland locations to achieve some of his most striking effects. The result is sort of a horror film, but not really. It’s too funny to be categorized that way.
IndieWire by Kate Erbland
Dunn plays around with perspective and style, but all the flash doesn't obscure the film's emotion and heart, which are deep and true.
Hitfix by Gregory Ellwood
Dunn demonstrates an impressive ability to bring his unique interpretation of the coming out process to life.
San Francisco Chronicle by G. Allen Johnson
It’s ambitious, and has a great ’90s indie feel.
Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene
It's when Stephen Dunn dares to inhabit the how and not the what of queerness that Closet Monster feels authentic and deliciously strange.
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