June 27, 2025

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 6/27

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

iF you want a psychological thriller

sharp corner

Vincent Georgie: Ben Foster is outstanding as the star of Nova Scotian filmmaker Jason Buxton’s return, about a man who develops a warped relationship to being a saviour at the scene of car accidents. Strong score and editing elevate the film. Nominated for our 2024 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film.

Synopsis: A troubled man begins to spiral, consumed by the fatal car crashes caused by the sharp corner in front of his house. As his sick obsession takes hold, he places his wife and son in jeopardy, threatening to permanently break the family apart.

if you want an all-star cast

sunshine

Vincent Georgie: Many Canadian films boast impressive global casts, and this one is a real murderer’s row of talent: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, and the excellent mother-daughter duo of Rosemary Harris and Jennifer Ehle, among others. A high-quality, sophisticated production that won the Genie Award for Best Canadian Film.

Synopsis: The story of three generations of the Sonnenscheins, a Jewish-Hungarian family that began when Hungary was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian empire, changed their name to Sors in order to survive the years of Nazi occupation, and now faces the fallout of the postwar Communist legacy.

if you want a top-quality drama

the barbarian invasions

Vincent Georgie: Marking the first – and only time – that Canada has claimed the Best International Feature Oscar, Quebec’s master satirist and social commentator Denys Arcand matches his acid wit with an aching beating heart, in this story of families, loves, and friendships.

Synopsis: In this sequel to The Decline of the American Empire, middle-aged Montreal-based professor Rémy (Rémy Girard) discovers that he is terminally ill with cancer. This revelation leads to his reconnecting with his son, Sébastien (Stéphane Rousseau), a finance expert living in London who has embraced ideals that are at odds with his father’s socialist leanings. As Rémy reconnects with his son and other relatives and friends, they discuss everything from sex to politics to philosophy.

DOUBLE FEATURE

the talented louise archambault

Vincent Georgie: A favourite filmmaking guest at WIFF over the years, Archambault is a terrifically talented filmmaker. She remains the only filmmaker to have won the LiUNA! People’s Choice Award twice, including for the moving and rousing drama Irena’s Vow (the first time she won was for the wonderfully humane film Gabrielle), and she easily could have also won for the touching dramedy One Summer. Both films were nominated for the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film at WIFF 2023.

one summer

For more than 25 years, street chaplain and parish priest Marc Côté has lived with the poor and the homeless at his church. Exhausted and with bills piling up, Marc faces the prospect of shutting everything down. Like a call from Providence, he inherits a property in the Bas-du-Fleuve region and takes a group of homeless people there on vacation with him.

Available on Apple TV, YouTube, and Amazon Prime.

irena’s vow

Caught in a German roundup to be used as a slave labourer, Polish nurse Irena Gut becomes a German army major’s housekeeper during World War II. Irena risks her life to conceal a dozen Jews within the major’s home.