October 13, 2023

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 10/13

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you want the hottest new title

flora & son

Vincent Georgie: This film will melt your heart and leave you smiling. A great drama with flourishes of music. From ONCE director John Carney. This one’s a winner.

Synopsis: Single mom Flora is at a loss about what to do with her rebellious teenage son, Max. Her efforts to keep him out of trouble lead to a beat-up acoustic guitar, a washed-up LA musician, and harmony for this frayed Dublin family..

Available on Apple TV+.

if you want an offbeat story

cassandro

Vincent Georgie: Gay Mexican Wrestlers? Just what we needed. The film is terrifically entertaining, and this true story is brought to life by the reliably fantastic Gael Garcia Bernal. A story of sport, of personal courage, of familial relations and of really tacky costumes. Enjoy.

Synopsis: Saúl Armendáriz, a homosexual amateur wrestler from El Paso, Texas, rises to international stardom when he creates the character Cassandro, the `Liberace of Lucha Libre.’ He upends not just the macho wrestling world, but also his own life.

Available on Amazon Prime.

if you want a shocking true story

capturing the friedmans

Vincent Georgie: The film is fascinating, disturbing and conversation-starting. Directed by Andrew Jarecki, this film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Synopsis: The Friedmans seem at first to be a typical family – until one Thanksgiving while they are gathered at home preparing for a quiet holiday dinner, a police battering ram splinters the front door and officers rush into the house searching every corner and seizing boxes of the family’s possessions. Arnold and his 18-year-old son Jesse are both arrested. As the police pursue the investigation, and the community reacts, the fabric of the family begins to disintegrate, revealing disturbing questions.

Available on Crave.

DOUBLE FEATURE

love at wiff

From WIFF 2011, the first film is a love story between a mother and a son, a man and a woman, and multiple worlds and time periods. It’s an epic love story. The second film, from WIFF 2022, is a touching, romantic and funny romance with great flourishes of music and surprise. (And I still remember the film’s director Lindsay MacKay and I stuffing our faces with honey chicken bites at a party at the Capitol before the film screening).

cafe de flore

In 1960s Paris, Jacqueline is a single mother working hard to raise her son Laurent, who has Down syndrome. Their extremely close relationship is strained when Laurent makes a new best friend.