I Like Movies
THURSDAY 10th Oct
€10 / €8 (conc.)
Synopsis
Burlington, Ontario, 2003. Socially inept 17-year old cinephile Lawrence Kweller dreams of attending film school in New York City. To contribute to the hefty tuition fee, he gets his dream job at a video store. Wracked with anxiety about his future, Lawrence begins alienating the most important people in his life – his best friend Matt and his single mother Terri – all while developing a complicated friendship with his older female manager, Alana. As graduation looms ever closer, it becomes increasingly clear that Lawrence’s movie obsession (and his inability to tolerate anyone) is a way of burying a world of hurt and avoiding any real connection.
This warm, funny coming-of-age debut feature is based on director Chandler Levack’s own formative experiences.
Festival & Awards
Glasgow Film Festival 2023
Toronto International Film Festival 2022
Quotes
‘Lehtinen delivers a wonderful performance as a kid who is simultaneously perfectly sure of himself and sure of nothing. He has to walk the tightrope between lovable and cringeworthy, and that isn’t an easy thing to do.’’ – Andy Howell, Film Threat
‘‘★★★★ There remains a warmth and goofiness in Lehtinen’s performance that harks back to Napoleon Dynamite as much as it recalls such similarly themed bro pics as High Fidelity and Clerks. It’s enough to restore one’s faith in the near-extinct subgenre once known as the teen comedy.’’– Tara Brady, The Irish Times
‘’Making her feature debut, writer-director Chandler Levack has pulled off a rare trick here by making a movie that feels warm and safe without coddling its protagonist. A film that is small but not slight, sweet but not cloying, and the kind of thing that can make even a cynical critic like movies again.’’ – Katie Rife, indieWire
Film Info
99 mins | Canada | 2022 | CLUB
Director:
Chandler Levack
Cast:
Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges, Percy Hynes White