Directed by Noah Dixon and Ori Segev
Written by Noah Dixon
Starring Sylvie Mix, Bobbi Kitten, Abdul Seidu
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes
Streaming at Tribeca Festival starting June 11

by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

Poser is a love letter to an underground music scene, one hidden in the center of America, in what is unfortunately referred to by some as “flyover country.” It’s a vibrant scene full of eclectic and bizarre artists. How do people find out about these artists? Word of mouth? Social media? In Minneapolis, I find out about new local artists through our local college radio station, Radio K. When Lennon (Sylvie Mix), a young woman in her early 20s with dip-dyed blue hair, starts a music podcast, she reminded me of these college students, speaking without affectation, mispronouncing band names. She looks a lot like them, too, with blue hair and a hoop in her nose, but she doesn’t have their self assuredness or opinions. Lennon is more like a mirror of local culture than an artist herself, something she struggles with throughout the film.

Poser plays out like a documentary for much of its running time. Lennon interviews poets, bands, performance artists. She begins awkwardly, asking musicians if she could interview them for her podcast. “Nah, I’m good,” they say. She works at a hotel as a dishwasher. She watches a man write, she records a poet. I presume that many of the bands she reviews are real, as Noah Dixon, who wrote and directed Poser (Ori Segev co-directed), is an Ohio native. Lennon interviews bands that identify as things like “power death pop” and “junkyard bop.” She interviews a dopey musician couple who make observations about how “we’re all made of atoms.” She tells listeners about a local music venue that shuttered after an underage kid was served alcohol and died on nearby railroad tracks. Dixon excels at setting this music scene that’s filled with ambitious artists more interested in trying new things than trying to work toward some iteration of success. These are young, idealist people who say things like, “we’re gonna go smoke and read some poems.”

I was intrigued with Poser because I couldn’t quite determine what it was until nearly the halfway point. Early scenes are staged like a documentary. A story doesn’t really develop until Lennon meets Bobbi Kitten, a fictional version of artist Bobbi Kitten, half of the duo of the band Damn the Witch Siren. Bobbi is flirty and fun and has a pink bob. Her bandmate is only ever seen in a wolf mask. Bobbi exudes a confidence that Lennon lacks and wants to emulate. Newcomer Sylvie Mix makes a captivating lead as Lennon. There is an empty sadness to Lennon. She mimics Bobbi in the mirror. She records people talking about an art exhibit so she can borrow their opinions later to impress others. Mix, with her deep, raspy voice, excels at portraying a character whose oblivious demeanor hides a darker, deeper side.

It’s no surprise that a film about an underground music scene has a good soundtrack. The music sets the tone, which can change from moment to moment. In one scene, the music holds our hands as we witness Lennon flush a goldfish down the toilet. Is this moment tragic? No, the music tells us. It’s darkly funny (the fish is still swimming). Inside a club, a DJ mixes in audio of Paris Hilton saying “that’s hot.” Damn the Witch Siren itself, musically, didn’t interest me, but I liked how the band was incorporated into the film, even if Bobbi Kitten doesn’t seem comfortable with all her lines. I suspect that Poser started out as a documentary, but morphed into a drama/dark comedy. Even if Poser seems like it has as much of a crisis of identity as its lead, it’s a solid, engaging debut.

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