Review of Picture Day (2012) by Nik M — 15 Sep 2012

Toronto International Film Festival 2012. A rebellious teenager forced to repeat her last year of high school is caught between adolescence and adulthood - and between two very different male admirers.

â" Oh man, I am so glad I ended TIFF 2012 with this movie. The two movies I watched previously were so unengaging and unrelatable, but this film, not only was it completely filmed in Toronto and features an all-Canadian cast, but it is also the directorial debut for the Torontoian director.

Plus, plus, plus. The cast has wonderful chemistry between each other (probably helped with the fact that they had 5 days of rehearsal beforehand!), and the film is so charming and hits the mark perfectly on awkward teens in high school and the cool badass kids.

I love how Toronto-ish it was, with the multicultural students and the city buildings in the background. Anyway, Tatiana Maslany does a fantastic job in lead. She's apparently 27-years-old but you don't notice her age.

She does all the mannerisms of a "don't give a fuck" high school teenager, dabbling in things she shouldn't. I am really impressed with the entire cast really. There is a real improv-like naturalness to their acting that helped make the film so relatable.

A couple of us asked the filmmakers at the end of the screening if there were any distribution rumours/info, but unfortunately all they have right now is the a TMN deal. Hopefully this will get some distribution.

It's vibrant, realistic and charming.