In Toxoplasma, nothing goes right for Dwyer (Dwyer O’Brien). His stepdad just died. His roommate constantly hounds him to get a job and help with rent and bills. Oh, and he contracts a brain-eating parasite connected to cat feces. Because of that, the movie gets weird. I mean really weird.
The film establishes a dark tone from the outset, after Dwyer is beaten over and over again for stealing another man’s booze. This flashback is shown at the beginning and end of the film. It obviously deeply affected Dwyer and he harbors trauma from it. However, it’s unclear who this other person is. He looks slightly too young to be Dwyer’s stepdad, so the relation is unclear, only that it had a profound effect on Dwyer and may be the source of his drinking habits and listless direction in life. Still, the fact this other character isn’t established is a major plot hole, since it connects so much to the film’s lead.
Dwyer’s roommate Eric (Alex Sendra) still attends class and manages to make something of his life. However, he frequently asks Dwyer if he secured a job yet, and though he expresses sympathy about the fact Dwyer’s stepdad just died, he can’t continue managing the financial load by himself. This relationship sours further when the brain-eating parasite warps Dwyer’s behavior to the point he ties up Eric and duct tapes his mouth.
Prior to that, there’s a scene where Dwyer eats cat feces, which he fished out of a neighbor’s trash can. Yes, it’s as gross as it sounds. There are also frequent shots of the neighbor’s adorable black kitty, underscoring the point that toxoplasmosis can be contracted from cat feces. From there, the film only turns stranger, as Dwyer births the parasite, played by Charles Wilson. By the film’s second half, the film goes full-blown body horror, and the influence of David Cronenberg is pretty evident.
For a student film, this work is generally well-made, including the unsettling score that makes the entire narrative feel off. That said, there are a lot of moments in this movie that just don’t make sense and leave gaping plot holes. There’s even a scene where a professor (Scott Jameson) asks Eric and his classmates what it means to be born, then drops an f bomb, and dismisses the class. I know we’re not operating in the world of realism here, but how has that professor not been fired? He also gleefully helps Dwyer birth the parasite, though it’s unclear why. This film actually would have benefited from a longer runtime to flesh out some of these characters.
Toxoplasma is a bizarre and off-kilter film with a few gross-out moments. By the second half, it has some visually unsettling body horror moments. Though the movie has some truly befuddling characters and narrative choices, it does show that these young filmmakers have talent.
