Woman at War

Benedikt Erlingsson must be a gambling man.  With his new film Woman at War, he pushes the limit on imagination;  crossing the narrative with elements of a thriller and a deadpan comedy.  But like a gambler with no self-control, Erlingsson overestimates his luck;  spinning the film’s results into a somewhat smug affair.


Ghost Town Anthology

The work I’ve seen from French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Côté all involve the subject of lost souls.  Carcasses was a pseudo-doc about a lonely scrapyard owner who is suddenly interrupted by a gang of wanderers, and Curling followed the faded relationship between a father and his daughter in the wake of a tragedy.


To Dust

By: Trevor Chartrand A surprising and VERY unique take on the buddy-comedy, To Dust is a thoughtful and inspired look at grief – with plenty of well-timed comedic wit.  It’s a premise we’ve all heard before, with two unlikely companions teaming up to reach a common goal, however the approach and style this film takes is a brand entirely its own.


Finding Hygge

Finding Hygge explores the Danish concept of hygge, which a quick Google search tells me has to do with comfort, wellness, and happiness.  I was forced to Google, because at no point in this ninety-minute long documentary is the concept distilled or defined in a coherent manner.


3 Faces

In 2010, Jafar Panahi was arrested on the charge of making propaganda against Iran and was sentenced to not make any films for twenty years.  To a filmmaker, that is akin to having one’s tongue cut off.  Panahi, however, did not take that sentence into consideration;  the last nine years seeing four new releases from him, making it the most prolific chapter of his career.  This new act of revolutionary filmmaking has created some of…


Ruben Brandt, Collector

Art has been known to be so vivid and realistic that it can leap off the page, the canvas, et cetera.  That saying becomes quite literal for psychotherapist Ruben Brandt, who is experiencing surrealists nightmares of famous paintings torturing him.  In order to confront and conquer his fears, Brandt makes a bold choice to steal and obtain each work of art that haunts him, therefore being in full control of whatever is “out” to get…

Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ What The Film Festival ’19

In a city oversaturated by film festivals, it is nearly impossible to find a festival that isn’t somehow derivative of others.  While many festivals have something to offer to a small, niche audience, it often seems like it’s all been done.  And yet, occasionally, you find something wholly unique;  something that suggests that, not only is there no similar festival in Toronto, it may well be the only festival of its kind in the world….