Mary Dauterman’s feature debut, Booger, is a haunting blending of grief and body horror. The story joins Anna (Grace Glowicki) in the wake of a personal tragedy. Her best friend and roommate Izzy has just died. Anna is clearly struggling to process the news and has removed herself from functional living, ignoring the mounting bills, threats of eviction, and pleas to return to work. Her trauma is intensified further when Booger, the stray cat that Anna and Izzy adopted, disappears out of the window. Before his departure, he leaves Anna a parting gift, biting her on the hand and kick-starting a rather weird sequence of events for the grieving woman.
Booger is one of those films that sounds super odd, but in reality, feels entirely normal. Dauterman uses the bizarre concept of a woman embracing her inner feline side as a mesmeric metaphor for the overwhelming wave of grief that Anna is fighting. Dauterman is careful to never get too silly with the body horror aspect, and, for the most part, wields a restrained hand. Grace Glowicki’s performance as the ever-changing Anna is superb. The actor plays the part completely naturalistically. There is no hysteria here, just a calm sense of dread about what is occurring in her body. Knowing it is not normal, she further retracts herself from society and in her isolation, she tries to find solace. This portrayal links wonderfully to accurate experiences with both grief and trauma; Anna places herself in a place of danger by not reaching out for help.
When they are unleashed on screen, the body horror elements are extremely effective. Dauterman begins subtle, with a slightly more attuned sense of smell, sight, and hearing. Then the self-grooming – or hair chewing – begins, and anyone that has lived with a cat will know where that ends up. But it is the other work at portraying the feline that sells the situation. Anna begins to disassociate and gets distracted by the slightest thing. She develops a wariness to dogs and can’t sleep. Anna is also seen basking in the tiniest sliver of sunshine during the day. Whilst some of these elements will go over the head of many, anyone who has lived with a cat will immediately recognise and appreciate the thoroughness of the commitment from both Dauterman and Glowicki.
Booger will likely draw its audience based on its high-concept premise, but once the viewer is locked down, they will discover a thoroughly inventive and strangely accurate portrayal of coping with grief. Insidiously well-crafted, Booger is a must-watch for cat owners, body horror fans, and those who like their horror with an added dollop of psychological trauma.
Booger
Summary
A brilliant debut that isn’t quite as batty as the premise suggests, Mary Dauterman somehow makes manifesting feline attributes feel like the most natural thing ever.
Booger was reviewed at Brooklyn Horror Festival 2023. Booger will next screen in the UK at Soho Horror Fest.
