Mouse (2017) Reviews

• Gross but the drugged-up characters convince and engage

  bob the moo2017-08-13

  If you're coming to watch this film, you probably already know that it is about a couple who find a dead mouse in a can of beans, and you probably already know that the content of the film is pretty gross in terms of what happens. That is all true, but it buries what makes this film work, because it is the increasingly frantic interactions between the couple which make it engaging. We see this before the mouse is discovered, so we have a base for them, and that continues convincingly even as situations (and mental state) change. Set entirely in one room (the apartment), Wasche and George make the script work. Wasche in particular is convincingly intense and convinces with that drug-inspired logic (the sort where one is convinced one is totally right and in a right state of mind to decide), while George is also convincing as the type of person you'd be if you had to deal with Wasche's character on top of a crippling addiction. It is darkly funny, but be warned it is also very gross – and although you don't see much, the dead mouse is very convincing (I have 2 cats – I've seen enough parts of dead mice to know), and what they do is therefore convincing too. It is hard to watch in this regard, but the way the wider scene convinces, seems 'natural', and engages, makes it work. The ending isn't as strong as I would have liked, but the performances and intensity of the film is worth the look.

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