It stars Connor Jessup as a closeted gay teenager, using elements of the body horror genre as a metaphor for internalized homophobia.

[4] When eight-year-old Oscar Madly finds out that his parents are getting divorced, he retreats into a fantasy world filled with happy memories and conversations with his talking pet hamster, Buffy.

Ten years later, eighteen-year-old Oscar is close to graduating and is in the process of applying to a special effects make-up school in New York City.

Later, Oscar smells a shirt he lent Wilder, attempting to masturbate, but is interrupted by another intense stomach pain.

Wilder is fired from the hardware store and decides to move away, inviting Oscar to a goodbye costume party.

Oscar spends the night trying to work out whether or not Wilder is gay, but is suddenly raped by another partygoer named Andrew from Texas before having painful hallucinations.

Dunn said a series of gay hate crimes in St. John's when he was growing up had a strong impact on him, his coming out and dealings with internalized homophobia.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Closet Monster is a unique, understated fable, buoyed by a strong performance from Connor Jessup.

"[13] The film also currently holds a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 11 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".