Bodies Bodies Bodies

When a group of 20-somethings gets stuck at a remote mansion during a hurricane, a party game gone very, very wrong ends with a dead body on the ground and fake friends at every turn as they try to find the killer among them. With Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, Chase Sui Wonders, Pete … Read more

VIFF: I Like Movies

Lawrence (Isaiah Lehtinen), a teenage cinephile, is convinced that he’s destined for bigger things than Burlington, Ontario can offer. Obsessed with Paul Thomas Anderson and Todd Solondz, he’s intent on attending film school at NYU before unleashing his directorial vision on an unsuspecting world. This despite the fact his artistic output is, well, underwhelming. Faced … Read more

VIFF: There There

Canadian Premiere A little goes a long way in this ingeniously conceived series of wry conversation pieces by writer-director Andrew Bujalski (Support the Girls; Computer Chess). Faced with the challenge of making movies under quarantine conditions, Bujalski came up with six two-handers, and then shot each actor separately—a technical feat he carries off with such casual … Read more

VIFF: Sick of Myself

Canadian Premiere Signe (Kristine Kujath Thorp) and Thomas’ (Eirik Sæther) relationship is so toxic that they should probably don hazmat suits. (Sorry, Joachim Trier: these are the worst people in the world.) And when he becomes a cause célèbre in conceptual art circles thanks to his inane installations of stolen chairs, Signe is suddenly starved for attention. … Read more

VIFF: Leonor Will Never Die

Once a prominent action filmmaker, Leonor spends her senior years with the ghost of her dead son and the pestering, very alive presence of her younger son. In her cramped apartment, she distracts herself from overdue electricity bills by daydreaming about her movies, until a freak accident causes her to fall into a coma. In … Read more

VIFF: Something in the Dirt

Determined to escape perpetually post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, Levi (Justin Benson) instead falls in with John (Aaron Moorhead), a kindred conspiracy theorist. After witnessing an inexplicable event in Levi’s apartment, the neighbours become intent on monetizing the paranormal activity by shooting a Netflix-style docuseries. Convincing themselves that they’re piecing together a grand puzzle consisting of (but … Read more

VIFF: Smoking Causes Coughing

In the wake of a viscera-spilling battle with a menacing foam-rubber turtle, the superheroic, hard-smoking members of Tobacco Force are ordered to undergo a week of team-building at a remote bunker. In lieu of trading punches with arch-nemeses, they exchange outrageous campfire stories about others’ misfortunes, each of which demonstrates that Quentin Dupieux’s absurdism has … Read more

Shakes the Clown

Writer-director-actor Bobcat Goldthwait does triple duty in the cult-classic black comedy SHAKES THE CLOWN. Set against the backdrop of the all-clown town of Palukaville, this colorful tale featuring a recognizable A-list cast (including Julie Brown, Florence Henderson, Adam Sandler, Kathy Griffin, and a cameo from Robin Williams) provides a colorful backdrop for a story about … Read more

Jennifer’s Body (15th Anniversary Screening!)

In director Karyn Kusama’s (GIRLFIGHT, AEON FLUX) 2009 cult horror-comedy JENNIFER’S BODY, Megan Fox stars as newly-possessed hottie high-school cheerleader turned succubus Jennifer, who specializes in killing her male classmates. While this she-demon satisfies her appetite for human flesh with the school’s male population, her nerdy friend, the aptly named Needy (Amanda Seyfried), learns what’s … Read more

Three Colors: White (4K Restoration)

The most playful and also the grittiest of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors films follows the adventures of Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a Polish immigrant living in France. The hapless hairdresser opts to leave Paris for his native Warsaw when his wife (Julie Delpy) sues him for divorce (her reason: their marriage was never consummated) and then … Read more