Stephen Dunn's independent feature, Closet Monster, is a visually impressive movie debut about a gay teen's struggles in life and in love. The boy in question, Oscar (Connor Jessup), often escapes into a fantasy world, where he talks to his furry hamster, Buffy (voice of Isabella Rossellini), and engages with violent imagery involving a long metal rod and lots of blood. He's tempted by a colleague at work, and a handsome dark haired young man at a party, and his angst and general frustration with the unfair world around him are convincingly portrayed. Most of the characters are displayed authentically, the one exception being Oscar's douchebag dad, who acts as an annoying stereotype ("You ain't be going to no faggot costume party!") seen countless times before. What the movie lacks in acting talent (the most gifted performer is Sofia Banzhaf, playing Oscar's friend who poses for his artistic photographs with heavy monster make-up), it more than makes up in its director's visual approach to convey such a dubious part of a teenager's imagination so vividly and originally.
B
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