Heartbreaking, warm, complex and beautiful. Incredibly clever story and superbly directed. Can’t believe I only just found it!

Poignant coming of age movie with a remarkable performance by Connor Jessup.

A perfectly rendered, beautiful movie.

Everyone needs a Buffy in their lives.

My favorite movie as a teenager. To this day it is very difficult to give up this position. So many affective memories...

Beautiful. just beautiful.

Closet Monster, written and directed by Stephen Dunn, is a charming dramatic film with touches of comedy. It is superbly acted and directed, and will make you smile, cringe, laugh, cry, feel anger, and leave you feeling upbeat about life. It is a coming of age film and stars Connor Jessup in the title role as Oscar Madly age 18 who experiences not only his first crush, first kiss and many other firsts but comes to terms with his sexuality and rebels against and breaks free from his loving but controlling out of control, macho, insensitive, passive aggressive father Peter Madly wonderfully played by the talented Aaron Abrams. Jessup gives a stellar performance playing the likeable, articulate, intelligent, and socially awkward Oscar, a really good kid, who dreams of becoming a special effects make-up artist. He revels in his close personal friendship with Gemma played by the talented and sweet Sofia Banzhaf who indulges him and serves as his model for his work, takes comfort in his relationship with his talking hamster voiced by the fabulous Isabella Rossellini, and in his supportive, loving relationship with his mother Brin Madly played by Joanne Kelly, and takes refuge in his amazing tree house. When he makes acquaintances with the sexy, cool kid Wilder played by Aliocha Schneider at work and as their friendship evolves, things take an interesting and unusual turn for Oscar. When his dreams are dashed, he gets into a physical scuffle with his father over his mother's clothes which Oscar decides to wear to a costume party. Clothes, his father has stored in his bedroom closet for years. Oscar leaves the house in an agitated state and makes his way to Wilder's costume party where he gets a make-over, does drugs, attempts casual sex, and crashes on the bathroom floor. If you want to find out what happens to Oscar, well, you have got to watch the film. There was so much to love about the film. I loved the linear narrative story line interspersed with flashbacks and dream sequences. The elliptical transition of watching a young Oscar age 9 (played by an adorable Jack Fulton) struggling to climb the tree house rope at his father's encouragement and seeing the rope begin to tear and eventually ripe, and seeing Oscar, a young man age 18 fall to the ground, I thought, a master stroke of editing and beautifully straddles the two narratives of Oscar age 9 and age 18. I liked the comedic touches running through the film. Here are a few. I especially loved Mary Walsh's performance as Alison, Oscar's supervisor, with her deadpan humour, training Connor in being an effective sales associate, with her cute dog, Igor Pugdog, in toe. It was scary but hilarious to watch the antics of a panicked Oscar and a relaxed buzzed Wilder save Buffy the hamster who somehow managed to escape her box while Wilder was driving, and ending up wedging herself inside the car radio. The bathroom scene when Oscar meets his father's girlfriend Christine is a hoot too. And the pseudo Viking burial of Buffy the hamster at the end of the film that Oscar gives his pet is not only sweet and funny but touching. I really liked how the story was situated in the port city of St. John's, Newfoundland which gave the story a distinctive Canadian Maritime context, and added depth and character to the film's allusion of isolation. The cut aways of St. John's and the coast were visually stunning. The music and soundtrack of the film are fantastic, and moves and sets the tone for the film. I highly recommend the film.

Great movie and a clear example how our early childhood experiences can profoundly impact our lives. Wonderful acting and writing.

It's a difficult film to score. I feel torn. I enjoyed it and there are a few laughs but mostly the plot flashes quickly before your eyes from scene to scene, it feels uneven does not seem to flow. Talking hamster, Dad's angry character not developed, not enough back story or on-going story surrounding the Dad. Party scene, jumps to tree house then here then there, you catch my drift, then a contemporary house, isolated at the end, what? Eh? Great acting though and I'm no film critic. I'm easy to please but even I noticed the poor scene developments. All over the place is the only way I can sum it up, but a pretense for a great movie and worth a watch. It does touch on the hidden loneliness of hiding your true self, in this film the topic is of being gay, the isolation and frustration that comes with this. There's one moment I nearly cried but then before I had chance to it jumped to another scene, lol. But a good enough hour and a half.

This is one of the more creative coming of age films I've seen. It is visually stunning, and it almost makes you feel like you're constantly in a dream. This movie is very unique in the lgbtq community, with the ending not being one of typical romance and happiness. It shows you literally and figuratively what this boy is feeling, and they make you feel it too.

A colorful coming of age.

Powerful Canadian film about finding one’s self!

Entertaining, thought-provoking, and emotional, this movie is one-of-a-kind and I cried the first time I watched it.

Something about this movie really struck a cord with me and grabbed me from the first few minutes. From the imagination, to really well done depiction of a parent's divorce through an overly artistic child's view, to tackling some scary moments from feeling alone, being mislabeled, and coming of age to a pretty horrific "right in front of you" hate crime. I loved every second, and a bad-ass soundtrack.

This is independent cinema at its best. To turn a story about a boy growing up in Canada and elevate it by the cinematography, the music, the acting, this is magic. This film is art! Closet Monster will not be forgotten by the queer community.

A beautiful, poetic and raw coming of age film. Brilliant storytelling bring out strong performances from the entire cast. So much symbiosis between Oscar and my teenage self. Connor is a gorgeous and able actor who embodies the angst and confusion of Oscar, letting us in, but never too close. Aliocha's Wilder, is the perfect, empathetic, first crush. So many good things about this film - soundtrack included. A must watch for any cinema-goer!

Wow. I've rarely seen such a well written movie. This is really a case of life imitates art. This movies is truthful, honest and extremely insightful.

This novel and original Canadian coming-of-age story builds with good entertainment, symbolism and humor the life of a young man who deals with a self exploration of his feelings, trauma, and his interpersonal relationships in the pursuit of his own identity. 78/100

Influential of surroundings on one's character development. It was a bit surprise film, because I did not get the film plot in the beginning. I did not know it was about gay. Well, it was not entirely on that theme, but comes there after so many turns in the tale. So this is a coming-of-age and to discover sexuality theme. Also very neatly points out how a person develops his character by the influence of his surroundings. Even if it all begins with a small mistake or playful thing, in that small age, it all looks very serious, especially a character like in this film. Despite it was a cinematic, that might be true in real life. The parents as well influence their kids to grow up in a better path. So parenting fail too was highlighted in here. It was unfortunate how the father character was turned out at the end. That is the moment I could not decide whom I'm rooting for. It was like, seemed nobody's fault, but out of the guilt and frustration, emotion bursts out and things happen which is what this film focused on. Good performances, a well shot film. One of the nice LGBT films I've seen. Only on the reality side, it worked, but not as an inspiration. Though one can consider it an awareness film. I feel it should be watched, but not as a must see. Because of so many issues it centres, like a boy growing up facing them, what he becomes was revealed in its message. I think it's good for watching once. 6/10

Deep. So perfect this film, but if you were fine before, this film may still haunt you