Movies set in Scarborough tend to show the beauty of the area through its grit and the trauma that follows. While there's certainly a need for those stories, it's refreshing when the communities and neighbourhoods that makeup the east end of the city exist in a movie simply to exist. In his narrative feature directorial debut, Amar Wala tells the story of Ashish (Saamer Usmani), a 20-something struggling professionally and personally.
Struggling to accept his parent's recent divorce, with particular anger pointed towards his father (Bernard White), Ash puts his pain aside when he learns of his father's Parkinson's diagnosis — an aspect of the film Wala based on his personal experience dealing with his own father's diagnosis. In addition to his familial issues, Ash faces challenges establishing himself as a writer on his own terms while also navigating a new relationship.
Usmani, White and Pamela Sinha, playing Ash's mother, deliver exceptional performances that combine together to create an authentic portrayal of a family at the crossroads. The frustrations — some outward and obvious, others pent up over the years — that boil over to misguided expressions of love and care for one another will feel familiar to most. The humanity that Wala and co-writer Adnan Khan entwine with every character and moment in the film spawns universal connective tissues all audiences can hold onto.
Shook reminds us that, for all the specificity facing Ashish in this exact time in his life, his story (and in turn all of our stories) can bond us all together, albeit for different reasons. It also hopefully offers an opportunity for 20-somethings to breathe a little easier with the knowledge that life can get incredibly messy, and sometimes no amount of Bar Keepers Friend will do.
The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5–15. Get information about tickets and screening at TIFF's website.