- I Don’t Know Who You Are
- Directed by M.H. Murray
- Written by M.H. Murray, Mark Clennon and Victoria Long
- Starring Mark Clennon, Nat Patricia Manuel and Deragh Campbell
- Classification N/A; 103 minutes
- Opens in select theatres April 26
Critic’s Pick
There is something immediately, thoroughly and even nauseatingly electric about I Don’t Know Who You Are, the tremendous feature-length debut of Toronto filmmaker M.H. Murray. While delicate in its tone and thoughtful in its aesthetics, there is a nerve-rattling sense of desperation driving the entire endeavour, the anxiety slowly but surely seeping off the screen until it courses through the audience, head to toe.
Perhaps that tension is the unavoidable result of the film’s whiplash-inducing production process, with the micro-budget film shot over the course of just 13 days in and around Toronto. Sometimes utilizing locations without permission, Murray and his small band of collaborators engaged in a sly game of cinematic chicken – catch ‘em if you can. When you are working with almost nothing, up against timelines that would make even the most well-funded filmmaker shiver, then you simply have to embrace the chaos and trust that your creative instincts will deliver the goods on the other end. In Murray’s case, the package arrived safely and soundly, even if transported by trembling hands.
Based loosely on real-life experiences and borrowing a character Murray and his star/co-writer Mark Clennon first created in their 2020 short film Ghost, I Don’t Know Who You Are centres on Benjamin (Clennon), a struggling musician whose career seems on the cusp of something big. But just as he’s preparing for a prime club set, Benjamin is sexually assaulted in a harrowing act of violence.
Mark Clennon stars as Benjamin in I Don’t Know Who You Are.Handout
With little money to afford the HIV-preventive PEP treatment he needs after being potentially exposed to the virus, Benjamin is sent on an intense and crushing journey through an oft-uncaring and cruel Toronto. Facing a ticking clock – PEP is most effective if taken in a 72-hour window after exposure – and an empty bank account, Benjamin cycles through friends both genuine (Nat Patricia Manuel) and fair-weather (Deragh Campbell) in a bid to scrap together the $900, which to some might seem like a pittance but to so many in the city is a nest egg. All the while, he’s ducking calls from his would-be boyfriend Malcolm (Anthony Diaz), who just might be the caring and emotionally available lover Benjamin needs in this time of crisis.
Clennon, who wrote and performs the songs Benjamin plays onscreen, is simply fantastic, delivering the kind of searing and committed-on-every-level work that should mark him as an instant star.
On screen for nearly every second of the film, Clennon acts as a magnetic kind of mirror for the film’s up-and-down turmoil: he can be soulful, beautiful, despairing, devastated. But most of all the actor feels natural, raw and real. Even if Murray’s version of Toronto cannot be bothered to care about Benjamin, Clennon ensures the young and lost man is loved.
Barry Hertz