I was having trouble figuring out how to review Insanity because it’s such a personal project. It’s less of a conventional documentary and more of an outlet for filmmaker Wendy Hill-Tout (Marlene) and her family to decompress and reflect on James Bruce Hill-Tout, Wendy’s missing and homeless Schizophrenic brother.
All My Puny Sorrows, directed by One Week’s Michael McGowan, is cut from similar cloth as last year’s outstanding, sad drama Our Friend. Carried by a small yet mighty cast who are all approaching sensitive material under the guidance of a cautious filmmaker, All My Puny Sorrows tracks how deep mental illness can run within a family’s dynamic, and how it affects its members.
By: Trevor Chartrand Canadian filmmaker Virginia Abramovich makes her feature film debut with Between Waves, a captivating (albeit heavy-handed) exploration of mental illness and grief, framed through the sci-fi lens of inter-dimensional travel.
Written and directed by Stella Hopkins, Elyse is an uninventive and poorly-written depiction of mental illness. To watch Anthony Hopkins, Stella Hopkins’ husband and arguably one of the greatest actors of our time, perform in a film this tedious and inexpert is a truly baffling experience. Mental illness is a complex and nuanced theme, but Elyse’s exploration of a wealthy but unsatisfied white woman’s inner world is obvious and riddled with clichés.
An Audience of Chairs isn’t just one movie. This new film from Deanne Foley (Relative Happiness) based on Joan Clark’s novel of the same name appears to be a sombre Canadian drama that you prepare for by stuffing your pockets full of tissue. While it is a tear-jerker, it’s also a character drama, a romance, and a message film. And, surprisingly enough, Foley pulls off this trifecta.