By John Corrado

★★½ (out of 4)

An immigrant from pre-war Yugoslavia, Jasmin (Jasmin Geljo) is a struggling actor in Toronto, who finds himself typecast to read for criminals in his auditions, and works as a construction worker to support his wife (Ma-Anne Dionisio) and son (Filip Geljo).

There are a lot of static shots and long takes where nothing much actually happens in The Waiting Room.  These do sometimes add to the feeling of longing for things to happen that permeates throughout the story, but they also make this largely uneventful film feel slow moving and mundane.

Jasmin Geljo turns in a solid and nicely understated performance in The Waiting Room, and there are a few affecting dramatic moments in this clearly personal film, but the overall execution feels more stagey than cinematic.

The Waiting Room is now playing in limited release at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto.