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

Raymond Ablack Raymond Ablack (born November 15, 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 recogni ...

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" an ...

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 long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Premise

Ashish ( Saamer Usmani), an

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The terms ''Indo-Canadian'' or ''East Indian'' are sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indian Cana ...

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 ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, 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, Wala cited '' Good Will Hunting'' as an inspiration for ''Shook'', hoping to present

in a similar manner as the former film depicted

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Cast

* Saamer Usmani as Ashish * Bernard White as Vijay *

Amy Forsyth Amy Forsyth (born 6 August 1995) is a Canadian actress. On television, she appeared as a series regular on the Hulu drama '' The Path'' (2016–17), the second season of SyFy horror anthology '' Channel Zero'' (2017), and the NBC musical drama ...

as Claire, a barista with whom Ashish develops a romantic relationship * Pamela Mala Sinha as Ashish's mother Nisha, * Izad Etemadi * Darrin Baker * Olivier Lamarche * Sammy Azero * Faizan Khan * Scott Edgecombe * Sharjil Rasool * Rehan Suleman * Devanshu Narang * Amit Divekar

Release

The film is slated to premiere in the Discovery program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.Zac Ntim
"TIFF 2024: Laura Carreira’s ‘On Falling’ & ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ Starring Chloë Sevigny Among Titles Set For Discovery Sidebar"
''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'', July 24, 2024.

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