Your destination for reviews of hidden indie gems, Canadian stories, and standout festival films.

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La Bola Negra Film Review | Queer History, Art, Desire, and Inheritance

Before La Bola Negra has properly introduced any of its three stories, its opening credits are already doing something interesting with history. Black-and-white photographs are covered, partially and sometimes aggressively, with bright pink paint. The older images do not disappear completely, but they are never presented as untouched archival objects.

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Casper Kelly Interview: Buddy’s ’90s TV Look and Hidden Easter Eggs

Buddy is hitting theatres on August 28, after a festival run that started at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and has since included SXSW, the Cleveland International Film Festival, Overlook, and, most recently, Fantasia in Montreal. Somewhere along the way, it also forced me to accept that mascot horror is officially its own subgenre.

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Sad Girlz Film Review | Chicas tristes Refuses to Turn Pain Into Spectacle

There is something telling about the path Sad Girlz has taken over the last few months. Written and directed by Fernanda Tovar in her feature debut, the Mexican-Spanish-French co-production premiered in the Generation 14plus section at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won both the Crystal Bear and the Grand Prix of the International Jury for Best Film.

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THE SCOUT Poster | @5thfloorpictures
THE SCOUT Poster | @5thfloorpictures

Standing Still: Paula González-Nasser on The Scout, Community, and Time

The Scout is not really about the mechanics of location scouting, even though it pays close attention to them. It is about what that job reveals. Sofia is always entering spaces, but rarely belonging to them. She is welcomed in, sort of, but only for a purpose. She is expected to observe, photograph, assess, negotiate, and move on. She is intimately present and fundamentally temporary.

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Inside the Rot: Oliver Bernsen on Bagworm, Family, and Making the Movie You Can Make

The day before our interview, my partner asked me the most normal question in the world: "What is this one about?" I had an answer, sort of, but not a clean one. There is the surface-level premise that you can find on the internet, of course. A sexually frustrated hammer salesman named Carroll steps on a rusty nail and begins moving through an increasingly warped physical and psychological spiral. The world around him seems to decay as quickly as his body does. Ultimately, though, the film is difficult to pin down in any meaningful way.

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