Two young lovers go on the run from their abusive lives in Mean Dreams. One day, young ranch hand Jonas (Josh Wiggins) meets Casey (Sophie Nélisse), who has just moved into the area. The two quickly strike up a friendship, which seems to be blossoming into romance. However, Jonas discovers that Casey’s police deputy father…
The life and work of escort turned writer Nelly Arcan is brought to the screen in Nelly. Nelly Arcan, aka Isabelle Fortier (Mylène MacKay), becomes a literary sensation in both Quebec and France after the release of her semi-autobiographical novel “Whore” in 2001. As Nelly struggles with writing a follow-up, the line between fiction and reality is blurred…
A terminally ill man returns home to tell his family he’s dying in It’s Only the End of the World. Louis (Gaspard Ulliel) is a successful writer, who has returned home after a 12 year absence, with his ultimate goal being to tell them have he has a terminal illness. He is welcomed by his mother (Nathalie…
A young hockey player’s life is left in limbo following a suspension for violence in Hello Destroyer. Tyson Burr (Jared Abrahamson) is a rookie enforcer for the Prince George Warriors minor league hockey team. Spurred on by a heated locker room pep talk by Coach Dale Milbury (Kurt Max Runte), Tyson ends up inadvertently injuring a player on…
A group of four young radicals form a revolutionary cell in Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves. In the aftermath of mass student protests, Giutizia (Charlotte Aubin), Tumulto (Laurent Bélanger), Ordine Nuovo (Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez), and Klas Batalo (Gabrielle Tremblay) move in together in a dingy apartment, as they plan their violent revolution against society….
A Chinese-Persian woman from Vancouver learns about her culture while attending a poetry festival in Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming). Rosie Ming (Sandra Oh) is an aspiring poet of Chinese and Persian decent, who lives with her overprotective grandparents in Vancouver. Rosie is invited to attend a poetry festival in Shiraz, Iran,…
This review was originally posted as part of my coverage of Hot Docs 2016 The Inuit community fight back against anti-sealing campaigns endangering their way of life in Angry Inuk. Hunting for seals is a necessary part of Inuit life in the Canadian arctic, both for food and income. However, animal rights organizations have been campaigning…
This review was originally posted as part of my coverage of TIFF 2016 Two homeless lovers choose different paths for each other in Werewolf. Blaise (Andrew Gillis) and Nessa (Bhreagh MacNeil) are two homeless recovering drug addicts. In between trips to get their daily dose of methadone, the two lovers go door-to-door offering to mow lawns for cash….
