I Don't Know Who You Are
| I Don't Know Who You Are | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | M. H. Murray |
| Written by | M. H. Murray Mark Clennon Victoria Long |
| Produced by | M. H. Murray Mark Clennon Martine Brouillet Victoria Long |
| Starring | Mark Clennon |
| Cinematography | Dmitry Lopatin |
| Edited by | M. H. Murray |
| Music by | Spencer Creaghan |
Production company | Black Elephant Productions |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
I Don't Know Who You Are is a 2023 Canadian drama film, written, directed, and edited by M. H. Murray.[1] Murray's full-length directorial debut, the film stars Mark Clennon as Benjamin, a gay working class musician who is urgently trying to find $1,000 to pay for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)[2] to protect himself from HIV after he is sexually assaulted by a stranger.[1]
The film premiered in the Discovery program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival,[3] before being picked up for theatrical distribution in 2024.[4][5]
Plot
[edit]Over the course of one weekend, a gay working class musician named Benjamin must urgently scrape together $1,000 to pay for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to protect himself from HIV after he is sexually assaulted by a stranger.[1][2]
Cast
[edit]- Mark Clennon as Benjamin
- Anthony Diaz as Malcolm
- Nat Manuel as Ariel
- Deragh Campbell as Agnes
- Victoria Long as Lola
- Kevin A. Courtney as Oscar
- Michael Hogan as The Man
- Grace E. McDonald as Benjamin's mother, Angela
- Radcliffe Goldbourne as Benjamin's father, Marcus
- Randy Davis as Carl from the HIV clinic
- Cheryl Wagner as The Emergency Room Doctor
- Chris Wong as The Pharmacist
- Lawrene Denkers as Melanie
- Peyton McLean as Terrence
- Ilgi Bodan as Cassandra
- Nileigh Bodan as Tabetha
- David Draper as Paul
- Felicia Morrison as Anne
- Erik Berg as The Security Guard
- Denzel Grant as Ed
Health care workers depicted in the film are portrayed by real medical professionals involved in HIV treatment and advocacy.[6]
Production
[edit]
Benjamin is a reprisal of the same character Clennon previously played in Murray's 2020 short film Ghost.[7] The screenplay is based in part on Murray's own experience having to navigate the health care system to attain PEP treatment after being sexually assaulted.[6]
The film was co-produced by Murray and Clennon, with Martine Brouillet and Victoria Long,[8] while Clennon and Long also served as story editors for the screenplay.[9]
In an essay for CBC Arts, Murray described the process of making the film on a limited budget, particularly in having to shoot many of its scenes guerrilla-style without permits.[9]
Distribution
[edit]The film premiered in the Discovery program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] In March 2024, the film screened at the 38th annual BFI Flare in London.[10]
The film was picked up for distribution after its TIFF premiere,[4] and later had a limited theatrical release in Canada and the United States in 2024.[5][11]
Critical response
[edit]I Don’t Know Who You Are has received generally positive reviews from film critics,[12][13][14][15] with particular praise for Clennon's lead performance.[16][17][18][19] Critics have drawn comparisons between I Don’t Know Who You Are and Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962),[20] Uncut Gems (2019),[21][22] and Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020).[23]
Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail ranked the film 7th on his list of the top 10 Canadian films of 2023,[24] describing the film as "a tremendously tense portrait of small-scale desperation" and "a seriously impressive micro-budget debut".[25]
Adam Nayman, writing for the Toronto Star, called the film “deeply affecting” and wrote that "Murray’s movie transforms its furtive production circumstances into a fully realized style. Instead of showing the city off, it cultivates a dizzy dislocation — the paranoid sensation of being surrounded at all times without necessarily feeling connected, or of anxious walks home under flickering street-lights."[26]
Vadim Rizov of Filmmaker Magazine felt that some scenes were “overly attenuated” but concluded that the film is "a solid feature debut" with “a strong sense of a particular micro-milieu."[27]
Angelo Muredda of Cinema Scope described the film as "an empathetic character study that effectively balances its punchy genre elements with its human drama."[28]
Accolades
[edit]| Year | Association | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Calgary International Film Festival | $10,000 RBC Emerging Artist Award | M. H. Murray | Nominated | [29] |
| 2024 | Riviera International Film Festival | Best Film | Nominated | [30] | |
| Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival | Rising Star Award | Won | [31] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Mullen, Pat (2023-08-03). "TIFF Announces Midnight Madness and Discovery Line-ups". That Shelf. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ a b Spoors, Gavin (2024-03-22). "I Don't Know Who You Are – BFI Flare 2024 (Film Review)". Filmhounds Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ a b Complex, Valerie (2023-08-03). "TIFF Unveils Cinematic First Looks With Discovery And Midnight Madness Program; World Premieres Include 'Hell Of A Summer,' 'Gonzo Girl,' 'Widow Clicquot,' And 'Boy Kills World'". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ a b Kay, Jeremy (March 6, 2024). "TIFF premiere 'I Don't Know Who You Are' lands US deal (exclusive)". Screen Daily.
- ^ a b "'I Don't Know Who You Are': Canadian film explores HIV health care challenges | Watch News Videos Online". Global News. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ a b ""It can be a struggle to get health care": Filmmaker M. H. Murray on bringing the realities of HIV treatment to TIFF". Toronto Life. 2023-09-07. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Hall, Erica (2021-05-12). "Filmmaker M.H. Murray Tackles Modern-Dating Anxieties in 'Ghost'". occhimagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Townsend, Kelly (August 3, 2023). "TIFF adds several Canadian world premieres in Discovery lineup". Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ a b M. H. Murray, "We snuck in without permission to shoot our film's climax — and then everything went black". CBC Arts, September 8, 2023.
- ^ Calnan, Ellie. "BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival unveils full line-up". Screen. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ Scheetz, Cameron (2024-06-06). "WATCH: A gay man's search for preventative HIV meds becomes a race against time in this thrilling drama". Queerty. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ "I Don't Know Who You Are | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ Guzman, Andres (2023-10-30). "Andres' TIFF23 Round-Up". The UnderSCENE. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ Fulton, Claire (2024-02-28). "I Don't Know Who You Are Review: Poignant HIV Drama". Loud And Clear Reviews. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ Arnold, Darren (2024-03-21). "BFI Flare 2024: I Don't Know Who You Are". Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ Levitt, Barry (2023-09-20). "The Best Performances at the Toronto International Film Festival". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
- ^ "Mark Clennon on I Don't Know Who You Are - Popdust". www.popdust.com. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
- ^ Trussow, Tomas (2023-09-22). "TIFF 2023 Report #1". The Lonely Film Critic. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
- ^ Creith, Matthew (2023-09-08). "Review: 'I Don't Know Who You Are' Sheds An Uncomfortable Light On Sexual Assault In The Queer Era". IN Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ Chambers, Bill (2023-09-13). "TIFF '23: I Don't Know Who You Are". FILM FREAK CENTRAL. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
I thought a lot about Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7, of which this film is something of a micro-budget Canadian update, and how after Cléo receives a diagnosis that's serious but not the end of the world, a man tells her he wants to be with her, and she says he's with her right now.
- ^ "I Don't Know Who You Are". TIFF. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
Benjamin's increasingly fraught visits to his friends serve as a tour through the city's unspoken class system, shading in further aspects of his mounting anxiety; there are points in the film when it feels like we're watching a microbudget version of Uncut Gems (TIFF '19), with a frenzied protagonist trying so hard to hide his desperation and panic.
- ^ "'I Don't Know Who You Are' Honours Those Who Fall Through the Cracks │ Exclaim!". 'I Don't Know Who You Are' Honours Those Who Fall Through the Cracks │ Exclaim!. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
The frantic and tense nature of Benjamin's quest creates the edge-of-your-seat anxieties reminiscent of Josh and Benny Safdie's Uncut Gems. While the latter revolves around a man trying to cheat the system, I Don't Know Who You Are shows that it's far more difficult to simply exist within it.
- ^ Heeney, Alex (2024-04-24). "Film Review: M. H. Murray's I Don't Know Who You Are". Seventh Row. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
I Don't Know Who You Are, the first feature film from M. H. Murray, does for access to PEP what Never Rarely Sometimes Always did for abortion access.
- ^ "The 10 best Canadian films of 2023, a year of crises and breakthroughs". The Globe and Mail. 2023-12-26. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ "TIFF 2023: Muted opening weekend puts focus on films instead of celebrities, with mixed results". The Globe and Mail. 2023-09-11. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Nayman, Adam; Krasovitiski, Michelle. "As TIFF 2023 kicks off, meet five filmmakers fearlessly reshaping the future of Canadian cinema". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Rizov, Vadim (2023-09-09). "TIFF 2023: Evil Does Not Exist, I Don't Know Who You Are | Filmmaker Magazine". Filmmaker Magazine | Publication with a focus on independent film, offering articles, links, and resources. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Muredda, Angelo (2023-09-05). "TIFF 2023 | I Don't Know Who You Are (M.H. Murray, Canada) — Discovery". Cinema Scope. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ "Calgary International Film Festival adds new competition to 2023". LiveWire Calgary. 2023-08-16. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Verbaro, Valeria (2024-05-11). "I Don't Know Who You Are, la recensione del film di M.H. Murray". The Hollywood Reporter Roma (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ Sharpe, Josh. "Winners Revealed for Out Film CT's 37th Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-08-16.