Door Mouse 2023

The coffee is bad, the dread is heavy, the punk is rock and the approach is nihilistic, cynical and bleak. Door Mouse is a neo-noir punk crime mystery thriller about Mouse, a comic book creator turned amateur sleuth as she searches for a missing friend. It has a lot to tell about sex trafficking and is a great example of it. The mystery is engaging with a certain sense of dangerousness creeping in, a bit of romance thrown in and it has graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. Hayley Law's Mouse absolutely carries the movie and I love her voiceover it gives off Creepy Pasta vibes and you get fully immersed into Mouse's thoughts. The inclusion of comics animation was a delight it gives it style and the movie's visually stunning most of the time despite it's low budget. The dialogue is so well-thought-out it's what kept me so interested apart from the mystery. A mix of punk rock, reggae, opera, classical score and more was used throughout and none of them felt out of place or felt like they didn't belong. Enjoyed the Metric needle drop and Necking is a band I didn't know, cheers on picking Canadian bands in a Canadian movie. Perfect ending. Great directionnal debut for Avan Jogia.

So many clever quotes...

"I grew to understand the true nature of people. There are no good or bad people. The concept of a structured moral ideology serves only to make you more vulnerable to the real truth which is that there are only predators or prey. And in a stratified society, the only logical position to take to ensure your own survival, is to become a predator."

"Make something of yourself. You can only crawl on the ground for so long before the dirt starts sticking to you."

"I'd rather die with the sheep than eat sheep with the wolves."

Rented on YouTube