Chandler Levack had already announced his interest in human relationships and intimacy in his 2017 short film, We Forgot to Break Up (2017). In her feature-length debut, these themes find a counterweight in  broader directions and unflinchingly executed inflections of the comedy and drama genres.

The plot is set in the 2000s, in the Canadian province of Ontario, where a video rental shop named “Sequels” fuels the locals’ passion for cinema, and especially that of the protagonist, Lawrence, who dreams to become a director one day. But I Like Movies (2022) doesn’t only pay homage to cinema, nor is it a coming-of-age flick tinged with sentimentalism – even if its main character is a petulant teenager who lives with his mother, Terri (Krista Bridges), and the more we see his emotions rooted in unhealed traumas, the more his personality gains in dimension. Last, but not least, the film charts the entire town, including its melancholy side, which is easily recgonizeable for any and all spectators.

Passion for cinema is a global phenomenon, and it undeniably begins with a visit to a particular store or movie theatre where you first find a film that sparks one’s interest in cinema.  Perhaps instead of the SNL sketches that Lawrence watches with his friend Matt (Percy Hynes White), we could instead imagine the commercial films shown on major Romanian television stations during the weekends or soap operas that were omnipresent on the small screens at the time. In I Like Movies, various film titles are mentioned (some directed by Todd Solondz or  sau John McNaughton, but also Stanley Kubrick), but Levack delves deeper into the culture of cinema, which she exposes as being much rather toxic. For example, the DVD store’s manager,  Shannon (Romina D’Ugo), tells Lawrence about how she gave up her career as an actress due to the sexual and emotional abuse that she was subjected to. But in parallel, we often hear Lawrence (who sees himself as a film director and already cultivates an eccentric artistic style) talk about the importance of cinema and prestige films. 

His aspirations turn into an exposé that lays bare the reality and illusory plans that he has, including the fact that he doesn’t want to be like every other Canadian filmmaker, but rather, he wants to study at NYU and maintain his view on the sanctity of cinema.

Lawrence dreams of being admitted at one of the best universities that offer a program dedicated to film and television, but his mother can’t afford the tuition, nor can Lawrance save enough money from his job at “Sequels”. Precisely because of this, his upcoming high school graduation worsens Lawrence’s depression, which is also fueled by his sarcastic attitude, under which he is hiding the emotional problems that he is running away from, or that he, at the very least, is not aware of as much as those around him are. The mother-son relationship is carefully studied and avoids falling into the clichés of many independent films, which are forced to work within strident patterns and budget restraints. Acting in the role of the mother, Krista Bridges brings a great deal to the film and manages to dress up some situations in a tender fashion, so that the feelings and frustrations they both feel are treated realistically, in tones that are not at all excessive.

The director reflexively captures the image of Ontario, along with the large one o Canada, which is unglamorous, in comparison to the image of Norther America that one sometimes discovers even in independent Canadian films. The vitality of the city, of its suburbs, and their working-class inhabitants easily come across in scenes that would otherwise seem banal in other contexts or film genres: family dinners, discussions about quiche, the debates about movies and about Adam Sandler.

As audience-friendly as the film may try to be, the fact that it’s not sugar-coated offers it an extra dose of realism. It’s as if the director isn’t forcing a typical coming-of-age embrace, while simultaneously not alienating the city or its inhabitants in any way. It feels like the film, in and of itself, has also gone through a process of maturing. 

I Like Movies will screen in Bucharest as part of the American Independent Film Festival on the 22nd and 24th of April at 6 PM, at the Eforie Cinematheque.

Dalesia Cozorici

Student at UNATC, she collaborates with Film Menu Magazine. She is a comic book author, a fan of Taiwan Films and has a passion for theatre plays and stickers.