By John Corrado

★★½ (out of 4)

The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th to 18th.

Josh (Jonas Chernick) and Emma (Emily Hampshire) are a married couple with two kids who realize they have lost the sexual spark in their marriage. So when their daughters are away for a week at winter camp, they decide to try and reignite the spark in their sex lives to ward off temptations of infidelity. It’s a process that involves sex parties and an attempted threesome, leading to several comic scenes.

Directed by Canadian filmmaker Sean Garritty, and written by his frequent collaborator Chernick, The End of Sex is a pretty good indie romantic comedy. If certain story beats feel predictable, and there are some more sitcomish elements, the film is carried by winning performances from its two leads. Chernick writes to his strengths, showing off both his comic timing and pathos in the dramatic scenes, sharing solid chemistry with Hampshire. The two previously worked together with Garritty on My Awkward Sexual Adventure a decade ago, and this film almost feels like an unofficial sequel to it.

Garrity adds a few clever stylistic touches to his latest, such as onscreen graphics showing how recently other couples have had sex, and there is a ticking clock element to the narrative counting down to when the kids come back from camp. With its mix of light raunchiness and some sweet conclusions, The End of Sex ultimately works as a decent and entertaining look at couple trying to restart their sex life.

Public Screenings:

Saturday, September 10th – 7:30 PM at Scotiabank 2

Wednesday, September 14th – 2:00 PM at Scotiabank 2