So much great new stuff on Crave! Here is a list proposed by our columnists and journalists.
Simple like Sylvain
Monia Chokri’s finely crafted dialogues, steeped in her typical humor, sometimes cynical, always effective, form the framework of this story full of tenderness and self-deprecation about thwarted loves, physical and platonic, as well as the hypocrisy of certain social constructions. There is nothing Manichean or simplistic in Simple like Sylvain. Monia Chokri does not judge her characters, for whom she clearly has empathy, affection and, of course, love.
Marc Cassivi
In Memoriam
You will need to activate your subscription to the Crave platform “pronto” to follow the most original and captivating Quebec series of the spring, the psychological thriller In Memoriamwhich resides at the intersection of Succession And The Hunger Games, with a hint of real-life TV influence. It’s super catchy and twisted as a proposition. We would feel like swallowing it all in one go.
Hugo Dumas
Crave will post episodes online at the rate of one hour per week. The first two episodes have been available since March 28.
True Detective: Night Country
In just six episodes, director Issa López manages to create an immersive experience in a fictional community in Alaska, with stunning images of beauty, while we are in the time of year when it is dark, 24 hours a day. To this, it adds a touch of fantasy, because the characters sometimes have ghostly visions of their dead, which could put off those who do not like the genre, but rest assured, the plot has a logical explanation, and a denouement stunning that we don’t see happening at all.
Chantal Guy
Humanist vampire seeking consenting suicide
That the detractors of Twilight be reassured: apart from Denise’s dress and flamboyant leonine hair, which evoke the ugly Victoria, nothing in Humanist vampire seeking consenting suicide does not recall the cutesy frankness relating the tumultuous loves of Edward and Bella. In fact, it is rather from independent cinema that director Ariane Louis-Seize draws her inspiration.
Manon Dumais
Girls on the Bus
The strings are often (very) big, but after having swallowed the first episodes in one go, we must admit that we await the next ones with much more impatience than we await the next federal elections. With ex-Supergirl Melissa Benoist.
Marc-André Lemieux
Solo
In Solo, Théodore Pellerin is grandiose. This actor is in a class of his own. He makes us feel the whole quest, Simon’s dizziness in the slightest look. This is an exceptional performance. Despite these blunders, SOLO remains a flamboyant, touching and liberating film. The Sophie Dupuis touch is the marriage of sensitivity and freedom. This filmmaker lets her heart speak in every shot.
Luc Boulanger
The legend of the butterfly
The legend of the butterfly is first and foremost an adventure film punctuated with funny moments, courtesy of the characters of Martin, the filterless caterpillar who is a bit naive and clumsy, and Tar (Rodley Pitt), one of the birds threatening the flock of monarchs, who get the funniest lines. The feature film directed by Sophie Roy also opens your eyes to the environmental issues linked to this insect, such as the loss of its habitat, without however adopting an overly didactic or moralizing tone.
Véronique Larocque
The red rooms
This film, imagined during the pandemic, explores a multitude of contemporary subjects – fascination with serial killers, conspiracy theories, urban solitude, power of the image – while taking care to recall the extent to which violence corrupts screens and society, dehumanizing his flesh and blood beings. Enough to get lost in the depths of these Red rooms which turn out to be, first and foremost, a fascinating exercise in style delivered by one of our most gifted aesthetes.
Martin Gignac, special collaboration
Happy Days
By betting on staying as close as possible to the actors, and in particular to Sophie Desmarais, thanks to close-ups or a hand-held camera, Chloé Robichaud plunges into emotion. We spy on his actions. We feel like we’re in his head, measuring his hopes and disappointments, guessing his performance anxiety. To dive with Emma into what she controls, tries to control, and cannot control. This is what makes Happy Days a cinema object as free as it is moving.
Marc Cassivi
Richelieu
Marc-André Grondin is effective in the role of Stéphane, the brittle and inflexible boss. His performance, although it doesn’t stand out, succeeds in portraying this skillfully written character, who, if we look at the details, is far from being just a tyrannical leader. We can’t wait to see what Pier-Philippe Chevigny has in store for Quebec cinema, because his signature as director certainly has the potential to serve social justice. This shows that it’s not just the documentary that can be engaged.
Audrey-Anne Blais