I Like Movies is a 2022 Canadian comedy drama film, written and directed by Chandler Levack.[1] Set in the early 2000s, the film stars Isaiah Lehtinen as Lawrence, a socially inept 17-year-old cinephile who gets a job at a video store, where he forms a complicated friendship with his older female manager.[2]

The film is produced by Lindsay Blair Goeldner with original score by Murray Lightburn from The Dears. Its cast also includes Dan Beirne, Krista Bridges, Romina D'Ugo, Percy Hynes White, Andy McQueen, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll and Alex Ateah.

Levack has described the film as being based in part on her own teenage job in a video store, although she has stated that she chose to write the central character as male out of a desire to push back against the popular notion that women filmmakers can only tell female-oriented stories.[2]

The film has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Visit Films,[3] and had its world premiere in the Discovery section at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022.[4]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the miniseries holds an approval rating of 100% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10.[5] Rachel Ho of That Shelf praised Lehtinen's performance in the lead role, and wrote that "While based loosely on her own life, Levack’s gender swap proves to be a fascinating element of the film. Though a young boy is the focus, the fact that the film is being told through a female lens is felt throughout. Even more interesting is the new perspective gained from the 2003 setting — suddenly that budding film bro doesn’t seem so precocious. I Like Movies is deceptive in that sense; on the surface, it may appear to be a typical endearing coming-of-age tale steeped in early-2000s nostalgia. But there’s a compelling narrative under the formula that highlights the exciting talent of a new filmmaker."[6]

Awards

At the 2022 Calgary International Film Festival, the film won the $10,000 RBC Emerging Artist Award.[7]

References

External links

• I Like Movies at IMDb

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