WATCH: A gay man’s search for preventative HIV meds becomes a race against time in this thrilling drama

In many ways, gay filmmaker M.H. Murray’s drama I Don’t Know Who You Are plays out like a horror film.

But, appropriately eerie and evocative title aside, this isn’t your typical “scary movie.” There are no flesh-eating zombies, or vengeful paranormal entities, or invaders from outer space.

No, instead, I Don’t Know Who You Are taps into a horror far more harrowing and realistic: Access to basic healthcare—particularly, queer folks’ access to HIV medication.

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Our protagonist is Benjamin (artist and poet Mark Clennon), a Black, gay immigrant who struggles to make ends meet in the city as a working class musician.

The character actually first appeared in Murray’s 2020 short film Ghost, which follows Benjamin as he becomes increasingly worried he may have been stood up for a romantic second date. (You don’t have to have seen the short to understand or feel the impact of I Don’t Know Who You Are, but the gorgeous Ghost is currently watchable online in full, so why not?)

An accomplished feature film debut for both director and star, I Don’t Know Who You Are (which the co-wrote with filmmaker Victoria Long) follows Benjamin in an new chapter of his life, with events taking place over one fateful weekend in the city of Toronto.

After another stressful week or work, Benjamin decides to blow off some steam on a night out at a costume party—a detail which only adds to the film’s modern folk-tale feel.

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But that night, he becomes a victim of sexual assault. Scared, confused, and in pain, the musician visits the emergency room, where the sympathetic doctor writes him a prescription for HIV-preventive PEP treatment, in case it turns out his attacker had exposed him to the virus.

Unfortunately, getting the prescription was the easy part. Short on money, Benjamin is now desperate to scrounge of the $900 he needs to actually pay for the medication. And he’s on a timeline, too, since PEP must be taken within 72 hours of possible exposure to be effective.

And so begins a dark odyssey, of sorts, one that finds our hero on a journey through Toronto as he calls on favors from friends and strangers alike: his ex Oscar (Kevin A. Courtney), his frequent music lesson clients, and even his estranged friend Agnes (Deragh Campbell) who he hasn’t talked to since she married a racist.

But the one person Benjamin’s too scared to face after his assault is Malcolm (Anthony Diaz), the handsome guy he only just started dating.

Tense and gripping, I Don’t Know Who You Are is a raw and stylish thrill ride with real-world stakes, calling attention to how our class and healthcare systems (yes, even in Canada) continue to be hostile toward those who need them most—the queer community, people of color—while never being overly preachy or didactic.

After premiering at the Toronto international Film Festival last fall, the film actually had a limited theatrical run in U.S. theaters last month, but is now available on digital/VOD as of this week, courtesy of Dark Star Pictures.

Check out the trailer for I Don’t Know Who You Are below:

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