Jake's Closet

I would say that this film gives an insight to the trauma that a young mind can face when a family is split by divorce or other disaster. I would highly recommend this film especially to parents or individuals planning to have a family.

I found the characters to be appealing and highly sympathetic from a multitude of dimensions.

The scary monster although probably not scary to most adults, has a very real hint of what the overactive imagination of a child who is facing unknown terrors might create.

I found the film to be delightful!

Anyone who has experienced the terrors of divorce will empathize with this indie film's protagonist, a scared little boy who believes a zombie is hiding in his closet. Is Jake (a mesmerizing Anthony DeMarco) simply "transferring" the trauma of two bickering parents to an understandable image? Or could the creature be real? Writer/director Shelli Ryan neatly balances both possibilities and keeps the audience guessing. Her choice of using one setting - a suburban house - adds to the feeling of desperation and claustrophobia.

Brooke Bloom and Peter Sean Bridgers are highly convincing as the angry, but loving parents. However it is the creepy minor characters, Mrs. Bender(Barbara Gruen), an unhinged babysitter and Sam Stone (Ben Bode), a sleazy Real estate agent that linger in the mind. Jake's Closet is a darkly inspired portrait of childhood as a special kind of Hell.

I'd never seen an independent movie and I was really impressed by the writing, acting and cinematography of Jake's Closet.

The emotions were very real and intense showing, through a child's eyes, the harsh impact of divorce.

A definite see!

I'd never seen an independent movie and I was really impressed by the writing, acting and cinematography of Jake's Closet.

The emotions were very real and intense showing, through a child's eyes, the harsh impact of divorce.

A definite see!

This film kept popping up in my recommendations and I finally gave it a shot. Really wish I hadn't. It's not bad by any means. The acting is satisfactory, the writing is neither remarkable nor terrible. But the adults, particularly the mom & friend, killed me every time the poor boy is subjected to their grown up divorce. I don't want to watch a movie where a child is being psychologically torture the entire time. Jake should have taken his chances with the closet! Maybe, this can serve as a PSA if one or two divorcing couples watch this movie and recognize themselves and what they do to their child. That would be it's the most redeeming quality by far. I'd say it's more than WATCHABLE and less than ENTERTAINING. I give Jake's Closet a SLIGHTLY ENTERTAINING rate. Watch if you have nothing better to do.

Jake's Closet has the emotional power of Kramer vs. Kramer combined with the imagination of Pan's Labyrinth. Even the beginning special effect seems to give a nod to Pan's Labyrinth. But this is a story that takes place in modern times, not in a war sixty years ago and in that way it has even more resonance today. Jake's Closet is about a boy, an only child, practically alone on summer vacation, dealing with his family falling apart. It's a horror movie like The Others and The Sixth Sense, a horror movie for the thinking person. If you're looking for a slasher movie, this won't be your cup of tea but if you're looking for a story that is both touching and suspenseful with good acting, this is the movie for you. At the screening I saw, I swear there was one moment where the entire audience screamed. I highly recommend catching this film.