Shook puts the “eh” in GTA; as in someone from the Greater Toronto Area recognizes something they see in the movie, elbows you and says, “eh! Remember that? From Toronto! Pretty neat that it’s in a movie, eh?”. Truth be told, Amar Wala’s feature filmmaking debut has been conceived from a genuine, semi-autobiographical point-of-view (expanding on Wala’s short film of the same name starring Fondi ’91‘s Raymond Ablack and The Joke Thief’s Sugith Varughese). However, Wala’s attempts at authenticity usually come up as corny.

In the role of Ashish, a young and angsty struggling writer, Ablack is replaced by Saamer Usmani (The Mauritanian). Ash’s father Vijay, instead of Varughese, is played by Bernard White (Cash Out). Vijay seeks out his son to talk about some recent news he received, but Ash doesn’t want anything to do with him. Ash pins the blame for his family’s break-up on his father’s infidelity, a choice that has now made Ashish feel like an outcast despite having loyal friends and the interest of a new crush, Claire (Amy Forsyth of CODA). Once Vijay tells his son that he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Ash’s world is rocked yet again. Along with a new development with his relationship with Claire, Ash feels as though he’s drowning.

Wala, who previously made the impressive documentary The Secret Trial 5, has a keen environmental eye for Toronto as well as Scarborough, where Shook primarily takes place. But considering the movie is about how we react and digest life’s sudden disruptions, Shook pushes too much attitude. Most of this self-satisfied behaviour is channelled through Usmani’s performance, which is too boastful from the hop. Ashish is supposed to sport confidence, but he’s also supposed to be vulnerable. Usmani portrays Ash with too much suave valour, and this choice doesn’t earn the audience’s trust or sympathy. The character gradually lets his guard down, but the process is paltry and takes too long. The supporting cast are trying their best, but so much of their development is controlled by Ash’s laboured drive, and is also affected by Wala’s wide swings to each broad emotion.

At a point, the audience wishes for Shook to succeed as a formulaic and contained coming-of-age tale in a big city. The film accomplishes this, to an extent, by finding an identity and finding moments to move the audience. But unfortunately, the positive feedback stops there for Shook.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie