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Shook (2024 film)
Shook is a Canadian drama film, directed by Amar Wala and released in 2024.[1] An expansion of his 2018 short film of the same name, which starred Raymond Ablack as Ashish and Sugith Varughese as his father, the film is based in part on Wala's own experiences after his real father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.[2] PremiseAshish (Saamer Usmani), an Indo-Canadian aspiring writer living in the Scarborough district of Toronto, is torn between a desire to move downtown to pursue his career dreams and his sense of obligation to reconnect with his estranged father Vijay (Bernard White) after the older man is diagnosed with Parkinson's.[3] ProductionWala co-wrote the screenplay with novelist Adnan Khan.[3] In an interview with the Canada Media Fund, Wala cited Good Will Hunting as an inspiration for Shook, hoping to present Scarborough in a similar manner as the former film depicted Boston.[2] Cast
ReleaseThe film premiered in the Discovery program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] Critical responsePat Mullen of That Shelf wrote that "Shook tours through the neighbourhoods of Toronto, observing these relationships as they play out in noodle shops, coffee houses, bars, trendy cocktail joints, and house parties. Wala brings a great sense of place to Shook. He unabashedly shoots Toronto as Toronto and echoes his own protagonist's drive to root his stories in people and places that are recognizably real. Shook sometimes struggles in scripting the dialogue, though, as some exchanges are a bit on the nose, particularly regarding the racial dynamics at play. At the same time, this observation comes from a white critic's perspective and echoes points that Ash and company hammer home: it's impossible to know life through another's eyes."[5] References
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