A family tries to repair their well in a post-apocalyptic world in The Well. The world has been decimated by a waterborne virus; however, Sarah Devine (Shailyn Pierre-Dixon) and her parents, Paul (Arnold Pinnock) and Elisha (Joanne Boland), survive thanks to a well on their property. A stranger named Jamie (Idressa Sanogo) is injured trying…
A carnival performer tries to escape her destiny as a freak in The Bearded Girl. Having inherited the family gene, Cleo (Anwen O’Driscoll) is being groomed by her mother, Lady Andre (Jessica Paré), to become the latest in a long line of bearded women at the family’s carnival. However, Cleo gets frustrated at her mother’s…
A podcaster caring for her dying mother examines a series of mysterious recordings in The Undertone. Evy (Nina Kiri) is a young woman alone at home caring for her dying mother (Michèle Duquet). She is also the host of the podcast “The Undertone,” about all things creepy, where she plays skeptic to her all-believing co-host…
A bullied and angsty teenager kidnaps the lead singer of her favourite band in Sweetness. Since the death of her mother years ago, sixteen year old Rylee (Kate Hallett) has been suffering from angst and depression, which is not helped by her constant bullying at school and uneasy relationship with her police officer father Ron…
A woman explores her connection to a missing cryptozoologist in Kryptic. While on a hike through the British Columbia wilderness, Kay Hall (Chloe Pirrie) has an encounter with a mythical cryptid called a Sooka, emerging with no memories. Kay learns that she looks identical to Barb Valentine, a cryptozoologist who went missing on a search…
A Toronto librarian’s sheltered existence is cracked open in Darkest Miriam. Miriam Gordon (Britt Lower) is a librarian at the Allen Gardens branch of the Toronto Public Libraries, whose daily routine involves reading to children, answering questions at the info desk, and filling out incident reports. However, a mystery arises at the library when Miriam…
An elderly woman forced into a care home has to revisit her dark past to get revenge on those who wronged her in The G. Ann Hunter (Dale Dickey) is a woman in her 70s living alone with her ailing husband Chip (Greg Ellwand). While estranged from Chip’s son, Ann has a close relationship with…
A yuppie loser finds his home trashed by a trio of mischievous freaks in Frankie Freako. Conor (Conor Sweeney) is a yuppie office worker, whose boss Mr. Buechler (Adam Brooks) doesn’t believe his upcoming presentation is “spicy” enough and even Conor’s wife Kristina (Kristy Wordsworth) believes him to be a bit “square.” When Kristina leaves…
Two strangers on a prison planet discover that they may have a tragic connection in The Silent Planet. Theodore (Elias Koteas) is a terminally ill convict, serving an isolated sentence on a silent mining planet, whose memory of life on Earth has been steadily fading. Theodore’s isolated existence is disrupted by the arrival of a…
A plumber and his germophobe son discover a man-eating slug has invaded the septic system of an apartment complex in Scared Shitless!. Don (Steven Ogg) is the proprietor of Donahue Plumbing, who has been dealing with the fact that his son Sonny (Daniel Doheny) has been experiencing severe germophobia since the death of his mother….
The stars of a 1980s professional wrestling league find themselves part of a Satanic cult’s ritual in Dark Match. SAW is a ragtag 1988 wrestling league managed by Rusty Beans (Jonathan Cherry) and featuring a roster of stars that includes Mean Joe Lean (Steven Ogg), Lazarus Smashley (Leo Fafard), Enigma Jones (Mo Adan), Miss Behave…
This review was originally published as part of my coverage of the 2023 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The story of a woman and a psychiatrist whose book helped kick off the 1980s Satanic Panic is told in Satan Wants You. In 1976, Michelle Smith visited Dr. Laurence Pazder in Victoria, British Columbia. During…
A lonely woman literally gives her heart to the man of her dreams in With Love and a Major Organ. In the not-so-distant future, every aspect of people’s life is controlled by an app called LifeZapp, which consequently makes most people devoid of authentic emotional connections. Anabel (Anna Maguire) is an aspiring artist working for…
A group left behind at their boarding school during Christmas Eve are terrorized by a gang of serial killers planning to conduct a demonic ritual in The Sacrifice Games. Samantha (Madison Baines) and Clara (Georgia Acken) are two students at the Blackvale School for Girls, who have been left behind for the 1971 Christmas holidays…
A disgraced reality TV star is recruited to save a real estate agent’s husband from a death cult in Cult Hero. Kallie Jones (Liv Collins) is a real estate agent in Owen Sound distressed about losing clients to Cynthia Doyle (Jessica Vano) and the poor state of her marriage with Brad (Justin Bott). To help…
A time traveller from the future tries to make the world a better place in Relax, I’m From the Future. Casper (Rhys Darby) is a man from an unspecified time in the future, who arrives in the present day and sets forth a plan in motion, with the assistance of Holly (Gabrielle Graham). A key…
