Filmed in Columbus, Ohio, “Poser” is a frequently fascinating look at the nature of identity and the role young people play in creating themselves.
Meet Lennon Gates (Sylvie Mix), the film’s blank-faced early 20-something protagonist. Her favorite words are “Um” and “Sure.” At times, Lennon wears restaurant whites and works as an anonymous busser/dishwasher. At other times, she is creating a podcast, covering the music and art scene in an unnamed college city, where a group of recent graduates have navigated toward a common neighborhood and are playing music and mingling at unconventional locales.
One of the bands is called Damn the Witch Siren, and its two members are Bobbi Kitten and Z Wolf (playing themselves). Z never takes off his wolf mask, a bit of a credibility issue. He and Bobbi compose, play and sing electro-pop dance music, although Bobbi tells Lennon on her podcast that she wants to get into a more emotional sound. Lennon keeps a journal in which she transposes lyrics she has recorded on her phone. She passes off one song she has heard and recorded as her own work, impressing Bobbi and her friend, a poet named Micah (Abdul Seidu). How long will it take before Lennon will be exposed as the thief and fraud that she is?
