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?
“Poser,” which was written by Noah Dixon, who co-directed the film with Ori Segev, both making their feature debut, can seem a bit slick and shallow. You don’t know if you’re being spoofed half the time. Why doesn’t Z Wolf talk? Are we supposed to take these people and their art seriously?
Yes, when we hear singer, songwriter and guitarist Carly Fratianne of the “queer death pop” band wyd perform. She is the composer of the song that Lennon steals.
“Poser” can ramble on a bit. Some scenes seem improvised. But the idea of a lonely young person, who is desperate to create a self that she likes and respects out of bits and pieces “borrowed” from people she admires is a fascinating idea well worth exploring. Is it theft or character building?
Lennon’s isolation is profound and numbing. Her only “friend,” outside of the people she is deceiving, is a semi-estranged sister she rarely sees. She and Bobbi begin hanging out with each other as friends. They play a mirror-image game, imitating each other’s movements, that will be familiar to fans of the Marx Brothers. Lennon, who could be a character out of a story by Melville or Kafka, wants to be Bobbi. Is there a real Lennon? Or is the young woman just a shape in search of substance?
Among the bands featured in the film are the aforementioned Damn the Witch Siren and wyd, as well as Son of Dribble and CAAMP. At times, “Poser” is a documentary posing as a feature film. Mix, who also narrates in character, gives Lennon a blankness that is frankly frightening. Kitten makes the kind of screen debut that will lead to bigger, if not better, things. Ditto for Fratianne. The ending you should have seen coming is shockingly dark.
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'POSER'
Grade B+
Not rated (contains profanity)
Running time: 1:27
How to watch: Now in theaters
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