‘Poser’, Ori Segev and Noah Dixon’s hair-raising first feature, is a floating psychodrama whose menace grows with unbearable slowness. However, the dazed and dreamy mood is immediately established in the pale face of Lennon (Sylvie Mix), an aspiring podcaster whose seemingly harmless ambition evolves into a much darker obsession.
Lennon’s blank affect and almost total lack of backstory make her more than a little creepy and an unreliable title character. As she infiltrates the Columbus, Ohio underground music scene, recording bands and random conversations, her physical silence and intense atmosphere become increasingly unsettling. When she’s not insinuating herself in the artists’ social circles, she works as a dishwasher for a catering outfit; at home she meticulously labels and arranges her tapes. It takes a while to notice that she hasn’t produced a single podcast yet.
Unfolding in gloomy clubs and freewheeling playrooms, Poser draws vibrancy from Logan Floyd’s atmospheric photography and the idiosyncratic participation of real musicians. (I especially loved the singer who described her band’s music as “queer death pop.”) When Lennon announces her own musical ambitions and befriends charismatic artist Bobbi Kitten (who plays a version of herself), it gets The film’s somewhat flimsy plot needs a lot of… shot in the arm. In the face of Lennon’s cold passivity, Kitten’s dazzling is a delight.
Polished and punkish at the same time, “Poser” is about the maturing of a vampire personality. Like his music, the film feels exploratory and raw, but with a lingering pathos that clings to and isolates Lennon. Her destiny may be predictable, but her detours are rarely less than tempting.
Difficult question
Not judged. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes. In theaters.
