March 24 - 29, 2026
Join Canada Filmfest in celebrating the 20th Anniversary edition of #CanFilmFest at Scotiabank Theatre.
For complete program listing and for more information, checkthe Canfilmfest website at:
Capsule Reviews of Select Films:
BEST BOY (Canada 2025) **
Directed by Jesse Noah Klein
After the death of their tyrannical, abusive father, not seen on screen, three adult children and their elderly mother return to their long-dormant summer home to take part in a bizarre, sadistic competition not done since it tore the family apart 30 years before. The mother reads the last wishes of their late father, who did not tell the solicitor that he wanted to give $100,000 to the Best Boy. The Best Boy is the one who wins the competition of sorts. Lawrence, the eldest, appears most keen to win, while Eli looks disinterested. Philip wins the first race. But there is more to this rather absurd story than the competition that one could care about. Performances are credible enough with the dysfunctional family apparently heading for some healing, though the confusing ending shows otherwise. Not a really satisfying film, but director Klein successfully creates the absent lingering presence of the dead abusive father.
JAMES (Canada 2026) ***
Directed by Max Train
JAMES (Winner of the Best Film, Oldenburg '24 // Nominated Best Debut, Raindance '25) is a Hoser-Noir comedy about an East Vancouver nihilist known as James, who finds new purpose after restoring a race bicycle salvaged from the trash. When a crooked dealer, aware of the bike's true value, steals it, Jame becomes trapped in a relentless pursuit, navigating Vancouver’s underbelly to reclaim his ride—or risk slipping back into the garbage heap of nihilism. Though the film bears similarities to stolen bike films like Vittorio De Sica’s BICYCLE THIEVES or the more recent SOULEYMAN’S STORY, in which the film’s protagonist spends more than half the movie’s time trying to get his bike back. The same can be said for the film JAMES, except that in the other two films, the bike is needed for the protagonist to earn a living. While the plot revolves around retrieving the stolen bike, the film gradually reveals that the journey is really about James trying to find meaning in his life. The arthouse black and white film, which requires some patience to sit through, shows that the bike represents his purpose, self-worth, and the search for identity, which were missing before the bike existed.
LUCID (Canada 2025) **
Directed by Ramsey Fendall, Deanna Milligan
A 1990s art student uses a lucid dreaming elixir to break through her creative blocks and finds herself trapped in a surreal dreamscape where her inner demons become real-life monsters. In one key and perhaps the film’s funniest moment, which encapsulates the tone of the whole movie, a fucked up medicinal guru, in reality played by a drag queen(the film’s funniest moment), tells Laura of the LUCID pill she is about to take: Take only a bit. It is not to make you high! It is made out of Tibetan snowdrops. If you overdo it, you are fucked. It opens a door, and don’t forget to close the door!” LUCID is a fucked up film for sure, like the amazing fucked up film last year, WEAPONS. Unfortunately, LUCID does not take the audience anywhere except to dwell on its main mother-daughter issues. The extensive conclusion playing far too long is an example of craziness carried out way too freely with no purpose or reason. LUCID is a worthwhile watch in its first impressive half before moving into disappointment.
MINHEA (Canada 2025) ***
Directed by Mike Doaka
The Romanian name MINHEA is difficult to pronounce, so Minhea goes by the simpler-sounding name Mike. Mike Doaha directs himself in an earnest story, a Romanian Canadian only son navigates mental illness and identity in his last term of university. Wonder how much of the plot of the film comes from his real-life story. Minhea or Mike has an overly strict father who screams at him constantly, calling him a loser. The father forces him to drive his Uber car business while still studying to become a doctor in University. The mother is more sympathetic. Mike gets to meet a sympathetic, good-hearted girl who also likes him, a dating experience that gives the man some hope. Everyone loves to root for a likable loser, and Mike is one of the best there is in this category. MINHEA, the film does not overdo it in cheap theatrics or over-acting, and succeeds as a heart-warming family coming-of-age Canadian drama.
PLAN C (Canada 2025) ***
Directed by Scott Anthony Cabvalheiro
Siblings Clare and Danny find themselves fugitives after a bungled robbery, leading them on a perilous journey filled with high-speed pursuits, moral dilemmas, and shocking revelations in the crime thriller "Plan C.” Nothing really fresh about the story here. The goods are being given to the criminals so that they are after the brother/sister as well as the cops for the robbery. Bits of the plot are revealed as the film progresses so that the audience is in the dark for most of the time. The film contains lots of swearing, with almost all the characters speaking the same way, while angry most of the time. It is a fierce, angry, and nuanced film where there set sot be little hope in the world. Despite Claire’s love (she is nicknamed Claire-Bear by her brother) for Danny, they argue most of the time. The only good and hope comes at the very end of the film, a little too late for goodness in a story full of hate, anger, and spite.
LOS RIOS (Canadá 2025) ***½
Directed by Ryan Fyfe-Brown, and Dale Bailey
A determined Honduran mother and her three daughters are swept into the currents of the contentious migrant caravan as it pushes relentlessly toward safety, opportunity, and the United States. The mother left Honduras and never returned. Now 30-year-old Johana is escaping the country to make a long walking trek to the U>S with her two sisters Yalin and Yosselin,
The absorbing doc, aided by the telling of a personal family also making the difficult journey, covers the key issue of refugee who have to flee their country, in this case because of violence and gang oppression. The travel as a huge group of some 5,000 Hondurans, as they believe the huge number of them will save them. The film is called “The River” because with 5000 people strong, they are like water (used here as a metaphor), that cannot be stopped, except by God.
