TIFF 2022: 'I Love Movies' Is a Perfect Coming of Age Film

I don't just like movies, I like them! If you also love movies as much as I do, then you probably know the "movie bro" - a nerdy dude who is so infatuated with movies that's all he can talk or think about. (Here are two good articles about them: on No Film School or Little White Lies.) Movie bros can be found anywhere and everywhere, usually hidden in various dark corners of the internet, waiting to slip into the DMs of some women when she mentions David Fincher or Punch Drunk Love. Remarkably, there's a new movie at the Toronto Film Festival this year called I Love Movies, and it's a goofy coming-of-age drama from a "movie bro" from Canada. It's not about bashing the movie brothers, or turning them into someone to be laughed at in a movie, it's actually a remarkably empathetic and warm film about the challenges to grow up as a nerd and become yourself. It happens to be a movie sibling, and it also happens to be one of the gems of this year's TIFF lineup. I loved watching this and hope it finds a wider audience.

I Love Movies is written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Chandler Levack, who is making her feature film debut. There's even a joke in the movie that the main "movie bro" character, Lawrence, doesn't want to be known as a "Canadian filmmaker" because, come on, how many iconic Canadian filmmakers can you name? But that is the joke, because his mother is trying to remind him of that Cronenberg guy. (Not forgetting: Jason & Ivan Reitman, Denis Villeneuve, James Cameron, Jean-Marc Vallée, etc.) Lawrence, played by Isaiah Lehtinen, is the embodiment of an obsessive film nerd - he can't stop talking about obscure art house films or that Punch Drunk Love is the greatest film of all time, or this filmmaker, or this filmmaker, or whatever. In fact, the 2002 PTA movie starring Adam Sandler is the one that comes up the most - it's set in 2002 because it keeps talking about it in theaters. His best friend tolerates his nerdism, as he also loves movies, but few others can handle it. He tries to get a job at the local video rental store (mainly so he can get free rentals) and befriends the manager - a woman named Alana played by Romina D'Ugo.

This movie really took me back. As soon as it started, I felt like I was at Sundance 2007 all over again. There's an authentic vibe, with a slightly vintage 2002 aesthetic, that feels like watching this film as if you were back in those days. I loved everything about it. Totally. It's a coming of age Canadian independent film that perfectly balances nostalgia, homage and mockery. With deeply honest cinema, but also so empathetic, sincere and understanding, in addition to brutally honest comedy about this geek and his obsession with cinema. I can understand that Lawrence has flaws and doesn't quite understand and is an asshole at times but isn't cut out to be that character we should hate or anything. He has flaws like all of us, he loves movies so much he has no idea how to connect with the real world or other people who don't love movies as much as he does. It's all handled with such warmth and optimism, as if he'll learn to be better as he grows up and one can be happy that he's found his place. I would totally talk about movies with Lawrence anytime, though we'd probably disagree on half of them, but still.

Levack totally nails all the nostalgic elements - perfectly capturing what it was like to be a nerdy teenager in those days in the early 2000s, from all the subway sandwiches, to details in the video store, in going through watching SNL every weekend with your friends. The line about "video libraries are a growing industry" is hilarious and enjoyable. I have to say this not to draw comparisons, but to indicate that it deserves to stand side-by-side with another geeky classic: I love movies is as good as Clerk . It's that kind of instantly beloved film festival debut that harkens back to a time long lost growing up with video libraries and DVD players. It could be the next generation clerks