By: Jolie Featherstone

Joanna Arnow directs, writes, edits, and stars in the smartly droll The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed, a directorial feature debut that takes an unflinching, but not bleak, look at Millennial ennui.

Between a dead-end job, awkward family conversations, and increasing emotional distance from her long-time lover (Scott Cohen, perfectly cast as many Millennials grew up watching him in Gilmore Girls), we follow thirtysomething Ann (Arnow) through a series of vignettes that demonstrate a particular kind of modern-age ambivalence.

The film is minimalist in scope.  Arnow astutely crafts incisive comedy and dialogue, though some more economic editing could have benefitted the movie.  Conversely, other aspects could have been rounded out further (such as Ann’s relationship with her sister).

However, thanks to Arnow’s clear-eyed cleverness and willingness to be bare and vulnerable (both literally and figuratively), you can’t help but root for Ann as she forges her own path forward.

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The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed screens at TIFF on:

Saturday, September 9 at 6:00 p.m. @ Scotiabank Theatre
Sunday, September 10 at 9:45 p.m. @ Scotiabank Theatre

Language: English
Runtime: 88 minutes

For more information on the festival, visit the official TIFF webpage here.

UPDATE – 6/11/24: The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed screens at Toronto’s Paradise Theatre on Tuesday, June 18 (with a virtual Q&A) and Tuesday, June 25. The film will also open at Winnipeg’s Winnipeg Film Group Cinematheque on Friday, June 21.

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