''Shook'' is a Canadian drama film, directed by Amar Wala and released in 2024. An expansion of his 2018 short film of the same name, which starred

Raymond Ablack Raymond Ablack (born November 12, 1989) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He began his career in the early 2000s as a child actor on stage, performing as Young Simba in ''The Lion King'' at the Princess of Wales Theatre. He later gained recog ...

as Ashish and

Sugith Varughese Sugith Varughese (born 25 April 1957) is an Indian-born Canadian writer, director and actor. Background Born in Cochin, Kerala, India into a Syriac Saint Thomas Christian family ("Varughese," also sometimes spelled " Varghese" and "Verghese" a ...

as his father, the film is based in part on Wala's own experiences after his real father was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

Premise

Ashish ( Saamer Usmani), an

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The term ''East Indian'' is sometimes used to avoid confusion with Indigenous groups. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a furthe ...

aspiring writer living in the

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

district of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 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.

Production

Wala co-wrote the screenplay with novelist Adnan Khan. In an interview with the

Canada Media Fund The Canada Media Fund (CMF, ) is a public–private partnership founded on April 1, 2010, by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canadian cable industry. It is used to fund the creation of original Canadian content and support the Canadi ...

, Wala cited ''

Good Will Hunting ''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver. The film tells the story of janitor Will Hunt ...

'' as an inspiration for ''Shook'', hoping to present

in a similar manner as the former film depicted

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Cast

* Saamer Usmani as Ashish * Bernard White as Vijay * Amy Forsyth as Claire, a barista with whom Ashish develops a romantic relationship *

Pamela Mala Sinha Pamela Mala Sinha is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is most noted for her 2012 one-woman show ''Crash'', for which she won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role � ...

as Ashish's mother Nisha,
Faizan Khan
as Rohit, Ashish’s Best Friend * Shomari Downer as Gilbert, Ashish’s Best friend
Pragya Shail
as Jaspreet * Izad Etemadi * Darrin Baker * Olivier Lamarche * Sammy Azero * Scott Edgecombe * Sharjil Rasool * Rehan Suleman * Devanshu Narang * Amit Divekar

Release

The film premiered in the Discovery program at the

2024 Toronto International Film Festival The 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 5–15, 2024. The festival opened with David Gordon Green's film ''Nutcrackers (film), Nutcrackers'', and closed with Rebel Wilson's directorial debut film ''The Deb (fil ...

Critical response

Pat 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." Wilson Kwong, writing in
Film Inquiry
', said: "The way this film is able to shine new light into a community that is typically painted with dark colours, really illustrates the beauty and importance of meaningful representation. ''Shook'' does suffer from tying its narrative bow with a bit too much ease, with its premise being one that would’ve likely benefited from a more nuanced ending. Perhaps this was done in order to make the film more accessible. Either way, Wala has crafted a fine story, and impresses in his feature film debut. Those from Scarborough will appreciate its balanced portrayal of the beloved neighbourhood, but there’s something here for everyone."

References

External links

* 2024 films 2024 drama films Canadian drama films 2020s English-language films English-language Canadian films 2020s Canadian films Films about Indian Canadians {{2020s-Canada-film-stub