I Don't Know Who You Are
Directed byM. H. Murray
Written byM. H. Murray
Mark Clennon
Victoria Long
Produced byM. H. Murray
Mark Clennon
Martine Brouillet
Victoria Long
StarringMark Clennon
CinematographyDmitry Lopatin
Edited byM. H. Murray
Music bySpencer Creaghan
Production
company
Black Elephant Productions
Release date
  • September 7, 2023 (2023-09-07) (TIFF)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

I Don't Know Who You Are is a 2023 Canadian drama film, written and directed 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 $900 to pay for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) 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.[2]

Plot

Over the course of one weekend, a gay working class musician named Benjamin must urgently scrape together $900 to pay for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to protect himself from HIV after he is sexually assaulted by a stranger.[1]

Cast

  • 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

Many of the health care workers depicted in the film are played by real medical professionals involved in HIV treatment and advocacy.[3]

Production

I Don't Know Who You Are marks the second film collaboration between filmmaker M. H. Murray and actor Mark Clennon.

Benjamin is a reprisal of the same character Clennon previously played in Murray's 2020 short film Ghost.[4] 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.[3]

The film was co-produced by Murray and Clennon, as well as Martine Brouillet and Victoria Long,[5] while Clennon and Long also served as story editors for the screenplay.[6]

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.[6]

Distribution

The film premiered in the Discovery program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[2]

Critical response

I Don’t Know Who You Are received generally positive reviews from film critics, with particular praise for Clennon's performance.[7][8][9]

Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail described the film as "a seriously impressive micro-budget debut".[10]

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."[11]

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."[12]

Angelo Muredda of Cinema Scope described the film as "an empathetic character study that effectively balances its punchy genre elements with its human drama."[13]

Matthew Creith of In Magazine praised the film, writing that "I Don’t Know Who You Are is an urgent tale full of interconnected relationships and rough realities" that "shines brilliantly as it projects impatience, artistry, worthwhile surprises, and the motivations behind propelling one man forward after a tragedy complicates his existence."[14]

Accolades

The film was selected to compete for the $10,000 RBC Emerging Artist Award at the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mullen, Pat (2023-08-03). "TIFF Announces Midnight Madness and Discovery Line-ups". That Shelf. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  2. 1 2 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.
  3. 1 2 ""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.
  4. ↑ Hall, Erica (2021-05-12). "Filmmaker M.H. Murray Tackles Modern-Dating Anxieties in 'Ghost'". occhimagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  5. ↑ Townsend, Kelly (August 3, 2023). "TIFF adds several Canadian world premieres in Discovery lineup". Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  6. 1 2 M. H. Murray, "We snuck in without permission to shoot our film's climax — and then everything went black". CBC Arts, September 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ Levitt, Barry (2023-09-20). "The Best Performances at the Toronto International Film Festival". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  8. ↑ Trussow, Tomas (2023-09-22). "TIFF 2023 Report #1". The Lonely Film Critic. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  9. ↑ "Mark Clennon on I Don't Know Who You Are - Popdust". www.popdust.com. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ Matthew Creith, "Review: ‘I Don’t Know Who You Are’ Sheds An Uncomfortable Light On Sexual Assault In The Queer Era". In Magazine, September 8, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Calgary International Film Festival adds new competition to 2023". LiveWire Calgary. 2023-08-16. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
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