Closet Monster

An auspicious feature film debut from writer director Stephen Dunn, "Closet Monster" is an effective look at what stunts and blocks our emotional growth, and how we can hope to rise above it all.

Starring Connor Jessup (brilliant in Season Two of "American Crime") the film follows teenager Oscar Madly, who, as a child, witnessed the brutal rape (and killing) of a teenage boy with a metal rod. Years later -- and on the verge of accepting his homosexuality -- Oscar is living with his bipolar father Peter (Aaron Abrams) and part-time with his mother Brin (Joanne Kelly), who left the family when Oscar was young. He spends his days working on monster makeup and taking pictures for a portfolio that he hopes to use to get into an arts school in New York City.

By his side are best friend Gemma (Sofia Banzhaf) and his faithful hamster Buffy (voiced by Isabella Rossellini). While his life seems fairly uneventful for a teenager, once he meets Wilder (Aliocha Schneider) at work he begins to have a sexual awakening, and life starts to get confusing, not just because he has feelings for a boy, but because whenever he starts to go with the fantasy, he is jolted back to the memory of the boy who was raped.

Oscar is wracked with guilt, fearful of who he is becoming, and a scared by a father who isn't allowing him to grow up because he has not grown up, himself. His mother is caring but selfish, having established an entirely new life with a new man and his family. Oscar is the side kid, and as a result he feels like he is always on the outside of his life looking in.

The movie is a bit of slice of life, as Oscar navigates his feelings for Wilder, his hopes around his future in NYC, and dealing with an adolescent father and absent mother. Buffy is the only thing that remains constant, even though, let's face it, she's pretty much a figment of his imagination. (At least, their conversations are.) Oscar is lost, and it is to Jessup's credit that we follow his wanderings and wish the best for him. He's a good kid trapped in terrible circumstances. It doesn't help when he finally admits to his tepid mother that he feels like nothing ever goes right for him, and she replies that this might be his fate in life so he'll have to learn to live with it. (Thanks, ma!)

Thankfully, this is a film that does have hope in it, and despite its depressing themes there is a modicum of humor here (mostly from Buffy the Hamster). But what it also does is introduce us to a compelling new filmmaker and allows us to see another stand-out role for Jessup, who is really positioning himself as the next big thing.