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Review

The Monkey's Mask is a stylish and sex-drenched lesbian murder mystery that we can all enjoy. This Sydney-set film was adapted from a novel by screenwriter Dorothy Porter. Susie Porter (of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 2) stars as Jill, a 28-year-old private investigator who is hired by the parents to locate their missing daughter Mickey, a poetry-obsessed student. Jill jumps at the opportunity - but she soon gets sidetracked by an intense affair with Mickey’s lusty poetry lecturer, Diana (Kelly McGillis). More complications arise when Mickey’s strangled body turns up. Rather than move on from both Mickey’s case and the torrid affair with Diana, Jill becomes more involved with both. There are enough twists and turns to beguile mystery lovers, and even more flesh for those who enjoy onscreen Sapphic love. McGillis, (The Accused, Top Gun, Witness) is unabashedly sexual here and as the cute, albeit not quite Hercule Poirrot gumshoe, Porter provides a fine foil. Gorgeously composed in cinemascope, flawlessly acted, Monkey’s Mask is cinematic poetry of the highest – and sexiest - order.