Poser is a 2021 American drama film starring Sylvie Mix and Bobbi Kitten, directed by Noah Dixon and Ori Segev.
Cast
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- Sylvie Mix as Lennon Gates
- Bobbi Kitten as Herself
Storyline
As you navigate this fascinating counterculture, “Poser” makes you feel a little less alone. Lennon Gates (Sylvie Mix) is a want tobe artist/musician living on the outskirts of a world she so desperately wants to be a part of that she is willing to go to any length to be there.
Working as a maid by day, she has a terrifying, double-edged desire for things out of her reach, something we’ve seen previously in films like “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and, more recently, “Ingrid Goes West.”
When Lennon, played by Mix in an unsettling portrayal that alternates between wide-eyed astonishment and disturbing apathy, googles “How to start a podcast,” you get the feeling she’s up to something bad.
We can’t quite get into her thoughts for a while. That’s because, rather than creating a micro-level intricacy for the fake-it-till-you-make-it Lennon, Segev and Dixon go head-first into the bewildering macro cosmos that surrounds her.
They have some fun with this navel-gazing mode, thankfully. We meet various bands, from “WYD” to “Son of Dribble,” and hear from an idiosyncratic bunch who soulfully speak straight into the camera, defining their style with a variety of amusing jargons like “Junkyard Bop” and “Queer Death Pop,” through entertaining, snippily assembled sequences (the duo handled editing duties themselves) during which Lennon records her podcast.
Box Office
In its debut weekend in the United States and Canada, the film made an estimated $15,250 from one theatre.
Review
The script is unfortunately the weak link in an otherwise tightly woven canvas — so much so that you’ll want to learn more about the quiet grifter Lennon, beyond her thinly justified fixations like scavenging LPs, recording sounds, and documenting strangers’ words, and a vaguely written sister character who appears in the story out of nowhere, only to vanish equally pointlessly. Overall, the picture resembles a combination of documentary and fiction, with a narrative film on the periphery attempting to break in. Despite this, the film is oddly gorgeous, crazily intriguing, and even bizarrely watchable. It gives you the feeling of being at a party where you aren’t quite cool enough. But, since you’re already there, why not stay a little longer and have a fascinating ride outside your comfort zone?
In these episodes, the directorial partners’ tone alternates between affectionately sardonic and experimental, resulting in a narrative fusion that can appear aimless at times. When a road ahead appears in the form of the mischievous, rule-breaking Bobbi Kitten (a real-life artist playing a loose version of herself), an appealing figure who charitably decides to take Lennon under her wing, “Poser” finds fresh life. Some of the credit must go to Bobbi’s band, “Damn the Witch Siren,” as well as Z-Wolf, whose music we hear a lot of.
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The connection between Bobbi and Lennon develops predictably, with the latter abusing the former’s goodwill through deception and a false sense of innocence. But you forgive the story’s familiarity because Segev and Dixon manage to conceal it with their pleasing aesthetics and keen eye for thoughtful, modish photographic compositions, culminating in what could be the movie version of a relaxing and intellectually stimulating stroll through a minimalist modern art museum.
They also use a creative editing approach to Lennon’s story – not only is “Poser” partially constructed in parallel to her podcast episodes, but it also includes clever flashbacks imagined in her imagination. The most inspired of them occurs inadvertently, when Lennon narrates the story of an abandoned warehouse performance venue and an unintentional, drunken death that occurred just next to it on the train tracks. This brilliantly produced, near-surreal diversion appears random at first, but it leads to a cunning reward later, revealing Segev and Dixon’s studious aims as directors.
