TIFF15 REVIEW: Closet Monster [2016]

“Don’t be a wimp” Writer/director Stephen Dunn‘s feature debut Closet Monster cares little about convention to tell the story of Oscar Madly (Connor Jessup) growing up with a psychological revulsion to his sexual urges all thanks to an extremely disturbing event witnessed as a child. This prologue glimpse at his youth (played by Jack Fulton) is a mash-up of tough coming-of-age-dramatics and a dark-edged imaginative whimsy that intrigues to draw you closer. It will be divisive with an idyllic world’s caring father (Aaron Abrams‘ Peter) “pushing” dreams into his son’s…

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REVIEW: Blackbird [2013]

“Appearance is everything” Co-winner of the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival, Jason Buxton’s debut Blackbird peers into the sort of guilty until proven innocent mentality our world has gravitated towards after a slew of school shootings post-Columbine. Such an atrocity used to be a nightmare we would never believe could happen in our neighborhoods or with our kids and now it’s become so common that each new media report numbs us to the horror and makes such events almost appear normal. So,…

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