The Monkey's Mask

R

Released Jul 27, 2001

1 hr. 34 min.

Mystery & Thriller

List

42%

31 Reviews

Tomatometer

15%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A lesbian private detective (Susie Porter), hired to find a poet, has an affair with the teacher (Kelly McGillis) of the missing woman.

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Audience Member

What could have been an interesting spin on film noir is torpedoed by awkward performances, flat, self-serious direction, bad narration, and pages and pages of even worse poetry. It's hard to tell which poems were intentionally bad, and which ones were just plain bad. Those poor actors.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

w.t.f the first time girl on girl action managed to revolt. ok correction, the "married professor" was hardly a girl.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

A film hot and cold. Hot, sure, for the sex and cold for the flowers of deceit.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

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Audience Member

Monkey meet Claire of the Moon.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Echos the traditions of a film noir. Susie Porter plays private investigator Jill Fitzpatrick hired to find clues to the murder of a young girl who(at the time) went to poetry sessions. Porter's character falls in love with a suspect (Kelly McGillis) who happens to be a teacher of poetry. The film has a decent amount of titilation but the narrative stays together and I really admired Susie Porter's performance. "The Monkey's Mask" sort of drags and sometimes the film does feel like it wants to focus more on titilation rather then the heart of the story and it's characters. Nonetheless, TM'sM is not a long film and goes by fast, it's shot really well and for what it's worth, kept me somewhat interested.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

an interesting and low key film based on the book of poems by Dorothy Porter, about the murder of a young female poet. Susie Porter and Kelly McGillis have little rapport in their love scenes together but this adds to the mistrust between their characters. The twist at the end was reasonable enough

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Samantha Lang

Director

Susie Porter

Jill

Kelly McGillis

Diana

Marton Csokas

Nick

Deborah Mailman

Lou

Abbie Cornish

Mickey

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57%

23%

Brother's Keeper

0%

16%

After Image

84%

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Mulholland Dr.

63%

58%

Killer

25%

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Eric Harrison

Houston Chronicle

An uneasy mix of tired detective-movie clichs and low-key arty pretension.

Rated: D+

Jun 14, 2002

Full Review

Jay Carr

Boston Globe

Wary, conflicted, gutsy, and simpatico, [Lang'd] make a fine series character.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 14, 2001

Full Review

Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

Emphasizes sex at the expense of mystery.

Rated: 2.5/4

Dec 6, 2001

Full Review

Jae-Ha Kim

Jae-Ha Kim

When the killer is revealed, we don’t really care. The villain literally laughs in the protagonist's face like a Saturday morning cartoon character. It’s as if they knew how ludicrous this plot was all along.

Rated: 2/4

Jul 28, 2023

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Aug 12, 2005

Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

Goatdog's Movies

Don't be fooled by the packaging: at the heart of it, it's a pedestrian detective thriller that doesn't have much going for it in terms of originality.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 18, 2002

Full Review

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Synopsis

A lesbian private detective (Susie Porter), hired to find a poet, has an affair with the teacher (Kelly McGillis) of the missing woman.

Director: Samantha Lang
Screenwriter: Anne Kennedy, Dorothy Porter
Distributor: Strand Releasing
Production Co: TVA International, Fandango, Arena Films
Rating: R (Graphic Dialogue|Strong Sexual Content|Language)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 27, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 26, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $49.0K
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)