Door Mouse

A gritty, forboading, and brilliantly cerebral examination of morals and their pricetags/paychecks.

Delicately orchestrated acting, cinematography, and score centers the capitalism of character beautifully.

There are so many impossibly thoughtful details that I would need to write a huge paper to discuss them all and their many nuances.

So I'll just say that I am beyond excited for the future of this creator as he continues to find his voice.

One day, just by the style, everyone is going to be able to pick his stories out of the crowd in a blink.

There is no doubt, whatsoever.

To Avan, if he's reading these:

Don't stop. Hold fast. Your audience will find you.

Door Mouse has such a distinct and well composed style that I watched it in growing awe. It' s not often that you meet such a clear tone in direction, camera, light, color and dialog in a genre indie film. The director seemed to know exactly what he was aiming for and hit the nail on the head. Somewhere between hardboiled neo noir, a dark generation-z-graphic-novel and a kind of weird Palahniuk-ish underground detective story. Well written, never over done or cliche, for sure in danger of walking into a trap of style over substance but never falling for it mainly thanks to its lead. Hayley Law carys the movie with her big eyes, a heavy existentialist litenes, dark and doomed wit and the intense charme from a princess of the gutter. She does such a wonderful job in portraying this iconic misfit called Mouse, stubborn, cool and very very sexy but never without essence or depth. She had me 3 Minutes in with the line "every morning I wake up in the afternoon". You can't help but love this character. And the rest of the cast is on the point too. So is the energetic garage band soundtrack that glues everything together.

I wouldn't have thought that this is the directorial debut of writer and director Mr. Jogia. Well done! Very well done. I'll keep my eyes open for his and Mrs. Law's work in the future.

Avan Jogia does an all around phenomenal job with Door Mouse. The film starts out the gate with stunning visuals and a killer soundtrack (with both only getting better as the film goes on). The beautiful color grading and well-timed graphic novel components combine to create a world that's so familiar, yet just out of reach.

Hayley Law as Mouse perfectly captures the essence of how deeply jaded yet fiercely passionate so many teens and young adults feel today. Apathy masking how suffocating it really is to move within never ending systems of oppression. The film allows space for people of color, especially women, to reclaim their agency outside the lens of "otherness." Nhi Do as Doe Eyes does this particularly well. Her presence haunts you with every appearance and drives the story to its satisfying end. Keith Powers was a delight as Ugly. He manages to bring such levity and authenticity to his scenes with only the slightest of expressions. (The part where we learn his government name was one of my favorites - superb comedic timing)

Power, privilege, and race dynamics are captured in the way that they are simply how our world exists. Accordingly, the dialogue delves into inequity with such casual depth and it's refreshing to see how that can be done so matter of fact without overstating rote talking points.

Door Mouse doesn't try to be more than it is - a wonderfully gritty, nostalgic noir that just happens to have an incredibly diverse cast - and in doing so, demonstrates how impactful and captivating telling familiar stories from different lenses can be. I laughed, I cried, I raged at how cruel the world can be, and ultimately left empowered that there are still ways to make sense of it all.

A fine, small thriller - the plot was a little far-fetched, especially the absence of any kind of police investigation - but the movie wasn't meant to be taken too seriously to begin with, so that wasn't really a problem. It also never stumbles into the style-over-substance abyss (though it's walking on the brink sometimes).

The reason for this: a fun and interesting lead and a likewise fun sidekick. Mouse and Ugly are two well-written and interesting characters (written with bold brushstrokes) which work even if the acting was not stellar; especially Mouse is so endearing you could watch her an hour longer and it would never get boring!

I saw a trailer for this film, decided to give it a try, and thought it was amazing. Watched it a second time to enjoy it again and catch the parts I missed, since the dialogue moves quickly. It has a unique take on the film noir genre, with characters that span the range of economic classes, and a plot that involves some of the more disturbing aspects of human nature.

All the actors are top notch, and the lead (Hayley Law) proves that she can carry a movie and hold the viewers' interest. I was pulled in and couldn't stop watching from the first scene to the nerve-wracking ending. The script is compelling, there's some humor, and the visuals and music are interesting and artistic.

I'm giving this film 10 stars because there's nothing I can think of where it went wrong. Despite what the low-raters like to believe, I am not associated with this film or anyone that made it. I just appreciate good films. I have found that lower budget films with good scripts are often as good as, or better than, the blockbuster moneymakers. This film is one of those. (For instance, although I am not dissing the Barbie 2023 movie, I enjoyed Door Mouse more).

Highly recommended. Due to the subject matter and some raunchy/suggestive scenes, this is not suited for children.