I Don’t Know Who You Are: An Anxious, Empathetic Medical Odyssey

By Liam Lacey

Rating: B+

The first feature from writer/filmmaker M.H.Murray, I Don’t Know Who You Are, follows a familiar template in which a vulnerable protagonist faces a series of harsh social obstacles to survival.

The model is the Italian neorealist 1948 classic, The Bicycle Thieves, by Vittorio De Sica, in which a man seeks to recover his stolen bicycle which he needs for work and feed his family. It’s a film that influenced filmmakers from around the world including England’s Ken Loach, Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami and Belgium’s Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne.

A sexual assault leaves Benjamin (Mark Clennon) fearing the worst.

In Murray’s contemporary Toronto-set story, Benjamin (Mark Clennon) is an introverted Jamaican-Canadian gay musician and artist, healing from a bad breakup and tentatively starting a new relationship with a man named Malcolm (Anthony Diaz). One night, after attending a party at the invitation of his gal pal, bartender Ariel (Nat Patricia Manuel), Benjamin is sexually assaulted by a stranger.

The next morning, with Ariel’s help, he goes to the hospital emergency where he answers awkward questions before being given a dose of of PEP (post exposure prophylaxis) to prevent possible HIV infection, along with a prescription for a month’s supply of the drug which he needs to start within 72 hours.

At a pharmacy, he learns that the cost of one month’s supply is almost $1,000, which he doesn’t have. Scratching out a bohemian existence teaching music and getting occasional gigs, Benjamin lives hand to mouth after paying his rent and sending money home to his family in Jamaica.

The rest of the film follows Benjamin’s journey over two days, trying to borrow money from people he used to be close to, negotiating the health system, and keeping his composure after his traumatic assault. Clennon, does a great job conveying Benjamin’s anxious reserve, and internal struggle to beg for help without having to offer lengthy explanations.

There are things about I Don’t Know Who You Are that don’t entirely work, including a late melodramatic twist, a too easy resolution. What sticks in the mind are the scenes where Benjamin seeks out old acquaintances to beg for money, while facing the power imbalance between them.

There’s a reunion with his ex, the borderline predatory Oscar (Kevin A Courtney). Later, there’s a dinner with a woman friend (Deragh Campbell) and her self-righteous husband, Paul (David Draper) who guesses correctly, if not quite accurately, that Benjamin just wants money for drugs.

Along with those scenes, and Clennon’s sensitive performance, I Don’t Know Who You Are is notable for its quasi-documentary style, with cinematographer Dmitry Lopatin’s handheld camera clinging close to Benjamin through his anxious odyssey. In some scenes, real-life healthcare workers ground the social drama in the physical reality of bodies, their vulnerability and need for protection.

I Don’t Know Who You Are. Written and directed by M.H. Murray. Starring Mark Clennon, Anthony Diaz, Nat Patricia Manuel, Deragh Campbell, Kevin A Courtney, David Draper, Michael Hogan and Chris Wong. In theatres April 25 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Opening April 26 at Varsity Cinemas, Toronto; VIFF Centre, Vancouver; Park Lane, Halifax; Landmark Kanata, Ottawa, Avalon Cinemas, Nanaimo and Landmark, Whitby.