By John Corrado

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5th to 15th, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.

In his narrative feature debut Shook, Canadian documentary filmmaker Amar Wala (The Secret Trial 5) crafts a character dramedy that is set in Scarborough. While the Toronto suburb has historically gotten a bad rap, the East End area has been getting its cinematic dues as of late in films like Scarborough, and now this one.

Wala’s film, which expands upon his 2018 short, centres around Ashish (Saamer Usmani), a young writer living in Scarborough who goes by the name Ash. His Indian immigrant parents have recently gotten divorced after many years, and he is struggling to get his novella published, spending his days in coffee shops staring at a blank word document on his laptop. 

It’s here that he has a “meet cute” moment with Claire (Amy Forsyth), the barista at the downtown coffee shop where he goes to write, who leaves her name and number on his cup. A promising romance ensues. But things take another turn when Ash’s estranged father Vijay (Bernard White) comes back into his life, with the revelation that he has Parkinson’s disease.

The romantic subplot with Claire can veer into some slight indie movie cliches, and Ash’s mother feels a bit underwritten. But Wala shows clear affection for his characters and the film’s setting. It’s in depicting the small details of Scarborough life that Wala’s film really gets it right, like needing to run to catch the last subway train of the night after hanging out downtown, lest being stuck on the notorious night bus to get home (being from Scarborough, I appreciated the relatability of all of this).

Through Ash and his father being forced to reconnect under less than ideal circumstances, Wala’s film also offers a sensitive portrayal of a proud immigrant father struggling to come to terms with a diagnosis that will eventually rob them of some of their independence. It’s an enjoyable fiction debut that is at its best when highlighting the unique qualities of Scarborough.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

Public Screenings: Saturday, September 7th, 5:15 PM at Scotiabank Theatre; Monday, September 9th, 5:15 PM at Scotiabank Theatre