Wexford Plaza (2016) User Reviews

Flawed portraits of 2 young people

[chong_an · 6/10 · 22 April 2021]

I saw this for free for National Canadian Film Day, and was not impressed. It was interesting to see the stories of Betty and Danny shown separately, but I could not get into the characters.

Why would under-20 Betty take a job as an overnight security guard at a strip mall, or that she would be able to dislodge a couple of loiterers by herself? Why would the bar close without any notice? What did Danny do with his severance pay? Why did Danny not make the rounds of other bars looking for work as a bartender?

The film somewhat works as a memorial to the strip malls that used to dominate the Toronto suburb of Scarborough (since merged into the city), many of which have been redeveloped into condo towers, but the human stories don't grab me.

Toronto micro indie

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 31 December 2022]

Betty is a chubby 19 year old starting a security job at a half-closed strip mall in Toronto. He has a crush on bartender Danny.

First of all, there is no security at a strip mall, let along a rundown one. There are definitely not three security guards there. I imagine the script is for an actual mall, but this movie is too small to even get filming privileges. That leaves the film starting on the wrong foot. I do like the sexually awkward Betty. It would help to have a story written around her. I care less about Danny. I was hoping that he's secretly in the closet. That would make him a little bit interesting. This is a Toronto micro indie. The fact that I'm half interested in Betty is all that can be expected.

Redundant two points of view

[mikesfakeaccount · 5/10 · 21 August 2022]

Would have been a 6 if 1/3 of it weren't the same thing from a different point of view. There wasn't enough difference in the two characters experience to warrant going over the same thing twice.

Slow, needed tightening up

[deschreiber · 4/10 · 11 December 2022]

I have a lot of sympathy for what was trying to be achieved in this film, a sympathetic portrait of young adults in Toronto struggling to find their ways economically and in their love lives. In a kind of general way, that is, measured by just the overall feeling that accumulated over the film and which I was left with by the end, it worked. But it did require a lot of patience for the audience who were given so many shots that seemed to add nothing to the plot or which merely added yet another repetitious drip to the sense of ennui, frustration and failure. Next time, more plot, less atmosphere, please.

Canadian Sleeper

[Lebowskidoo · 8/10 · 4 August 2019]

A tale of two working class young people, told from each of their perspectives. More drama than comedy, really. A small cast is assembled to help to tell these very intimate life stories.

I felt extreme empathy for both characters. Younger people seem to have it harder now in many ways. I mean, poor Danny was trying to sell cosmetics in the park to random strangers! You know it's bad when it comes to that.

A story of wasted lives

[gdump · 4/10 · 1 August 2022]

This is a story about a group of deadbeats doing deadbeat things. There is nothing here that is interesting, earthshattering, or in any way worthy of a movie. Several times I almost quit watching, but stuck it out for lack of anything better to do.

Masterfully directed indie

[deb-83862 · 9/10 · 1 March 2020]

This is how movies should be made, with tight direction-not a scene is wasted, not a moment within the scenes are flaccid in any way-and a solid script. Wexford Plaza proves you don't have to spend a lot of money to put entertainment, drama and value up on the screen. For about the price of a luxury car Joyce Wong brings us the sometimes heartrending, always relevant story of two people whose lives of quiet-and not so quiet-desperation serve as an exemplary document to how the modern gig economy marginalizes those whose advantages are not so advantageous.

A stand-out performance by Reid Asselstine as a terminally lonely-yet-hopeful woman of diminished options; and a remarkable job of portraying the desperately-trying-to-stay-cool hipster by Darrel Gamotin make the film eminently watchable and ultimately important. Overall, a wonderful piece of film-making.