Fifteen years after the feature documentary Rockabilly 514immersed in the Montreal rockabilly universe signed with Mike Wafer, the filmmaker of Salvadoran origin Patricia Chica signs her first fiction feature film, Montreal Girls, where she once again becomes interested in the nocturnal fauna of her adopted metropolis. This time, she does it with the collaboration of Egyptian-born screenwriter Kamal John Iskander.
Came from Egypt to study medicine in Montreal to please his father (Chadi Alhelou), Ramy (Hakim Brahimi, Eteocle in Antigone, by Sophie Deraspe) lives with her uncle Hani (Manuel Tadros), a benevolent surrogate father, and her cousin Tamer (Jade Hassoune), a punk musician. But Ramy dreams of poetry, a passion transmitted to him by his mother (Natalie Tannous), who recently died of cancer, which appears in a number of redundant flashbacks.
Little motivated to follow his classes, the student lets himself be dragged by Tamer in the bars underground, where he observes with fascination an unsuspected nocturnal fauna. Attracted by the enigmatic Sophia (Nahéma Ricci), who organizes poetry evenings at the Quai des Mists with the pedant Phénix (Guillaume Rodrigue), Ramy soon falls for the blonde Désirée (Jasmina Parent), pansexual photographer, and, above all, the dark Yaz (Sana Asad), promoter of fiercely independent music shows. Failing to find love in their arms, Ramy could finally find his true vocation.
It is from the perspective of a young immigrant that Patricia Chica and Kamal John Iskander invite us to discover Montreal and its summer charm, day and night. By moped or on foot, the candid Ramy takes a dazzled look at Montreal’s main thoroughfares, such as Saint-Denis and Saint-Laurent, as well as its most emblematic places, including the belvedere of Mount Royal, Square Saint-Louis and the river. Towards the end of the film, we are even offered a glimpse of the metropolis in its autumnal splendor.
Beyond its pretty postcards and its vitaminized musical tracks that we stretch until we are thirstier, where we are made to hear the Breastfeeders (Martin Dubreuil, alias Johnny Maldoror, makes us the grace of a lightning appearance in the skin of a wise man), Bloodshot Bill (seen in Rockabilly 514) and original punk songs by David Deïas (including Breastfeeders and The Men in Gray Suits), Montreal Girls wants to be a mixed portrait of the city, where one passes easily from one language to another, where the cultural offer abounds, where one freely lives his sexuality.
In their desire to sign a sincere love letter to their host city, the director and the screenwriter have neglected to flesh out their initiatory story with the air of deja-vu against a backdrop of mourning and naive poetry, where the dramatic stakes family and sentimental appear very light and the conclusion, telegraphed. Remains an invested, talented and charismatic cast that contributes to making Montreal Girls a drama of manners pleasant if not memorable.