Why are there no reviews of this film? I'm terrible at reviews. But if nobody else is going to do it, then it's me.
This is a good film, and I'm always delighted when someone makes a good English-language Canadian film. This one is not ashamed to be matter-of-factly set in Toronto, Ontario (or some suburb thereof), rather than pretending to be some nameless US city. The acting is realistic (partly due to the way it was shot in story order) and the story remains suspenseful throughout. There are times when the film feels Nordic to me, perhaps due to the colour scheme and the possibility of things taking a very dark turn, but also the naturalness in the acting. There were times when the story could have morphed into a preachy movie-of-the-week sort of thing, but it wisely avoided falling into that trap.
On the negative side, which wasn't all that negative, there were two things that took away from the naturalness and realism that otherwise permeated the story. I think the use of text was supposed to make me feel drawn into Nicole's experience with this, or caught up in the romantic aspect of it, but it didn't work, particularly when combined with the shaky camera. I also thought that there were sometimes too many tight shots and quick cuts.
Fans of this film's red room scene may also like Sleeping Beauty (2011), which is a completely different take on a similar problem. Also, I haven't seen it myself, as it is still on my to-see list, but the documentary webseries "Often Awesome" deals with a person's life and death with ALS.
This is a good film, and I'm always delighted when someone makes a good English-language Canadian film. This one is not ashamed to be matter-of-factly set in Toronto, Ontario (or some suburb thereof), rather than pretending to be some nameless US city. The acting is realistic (partly due to the way it was shot in story order) and the story remains suspenseful throughout. There are times when the film feels Nordic to me, perhaps due to the colour scheme and the possibility of things taking a very dark turn, but also the naturalness in the acting. There were times when the story could have morphed into a preachy movie-of-the-week sort of thing, but it wisely avoided falling into that trap.
On the negative side, which wasn't all that negative, there were two things that took away from the naturalness and realism that otherwise permeated the story. I think the use of text was supposed to make me feel drawn into Nicole's experience with this, or caught up in the romantic aspect of it, but it didn't work, particularly when combined with the shaky camera. I also thought that there were sometimes too many tight shots and quick cuts.
Fans of this film's red room scene may also like Sleeping Beauty (2011), which is a completely different take on a similar problem. Also, I haven't seen it myself, as it is still on my to-see list, but the documentary webseries "Often Awesome" deals with a person's life and death with ALS.