DOOR MOUSE (2022)
3 stars
The Movie Partnership. Digital download. Out now
Door Mouse is an indie Canadian neo-noir mystery thriller about a broke comic book artist called Mouse (terrifically played, complete with “Mickey Mouse” hairdo, by Hayley Law, Riverdale). To make ends meet, as drawing her Whoreific strip isn’t paying the bills, she also works as a dancer at a burlesque bar run by baseball bat wielding Mama (Famke Janssen, the most recognisable face in the cast). When Doe Eyes, one of the other girls that work there, and Mouse’s buddy, goes missing, our intrepid scribbler decides to turn detective to try and track her down. She is helped by her friend called Ugly (Keith Powers, who isn’t, ugly that is).
Before long even more of the female workers have been snatched and she finds herself drawn into a sinister world full of unsavoury characters, putting herself in danger as she tries desperately to find out what has happened to her co-workers.
Playing out like an old school detective movie, complete with voice over, this is stylishly shot by Mike McLaughlin, with visuals that are at once both gritty and colourfully flashy, and it cleverly incorporates animated sequences, drawn by our protagonist, to further its narrative.
Better known as an actor (he also appears in the film as drug dealer Moony) Avan Jogia both directs – in his feature film debut – and also wrote the script. It shows him as a talent worth keeping an eye as he clearly has a distinctive vision. It does skirt with style over substance but just about manages to keep things together – almost becoming a budget version of Eyes Wide Shut at the end, with cheaper papier mache masks!
Cultdom beckons – It’s certainly different and all the better for it.
Steve Kirkham
