I have viewed some fine films showing at The Canadian Film Fest. There are so many film festivals in the world it is impossible to keep track of them all and I stumbled into this one by chance. It is certainly not a major festival but based on the festival films I watched great care was exercised in film selection.
“The Burning Season” commences with its conclusion in “Chapter 7” and works backward to the prologue but to understand its conclusion you must work backward in time. The filmmakers have given you no choice.
The opening scene before the opening credits roll has a young heterosexual couple promising each other never to tell anyone what has happened with a raging fire in the background destroying a building. This is intended to pique your curiosity about who this couple is and what is on fire and why.
Chapter 7 kickstarts the film, a resort wedding of J.B. (Jonas Chernick) and the pregnant Poppy (Tanisha Thammovongsu) ending up as an unmitigated disaster with cocaine-soaked J.B. rambling incoherent wedding vows, upsetting a food laden table then fighting Tom (Joe Pingue) who is there with wife Alena (Sarah Canning). Immediately prior to the fight J.B. shouts at Tom that he loves “her” and it’s not his fault. Who is “her”? As wedding guests evacuate Alena visits brooding J.B. staring at a fire and Poppy hustles out blaming Alena and J.B. for ruining everything. Alena says she must now go and save her marriage.
If I tell you more about the chapters and the prologue I will ruin the movie for you! But be patient and you will understand everything about the wedding blowup and why the characters acted the way they did. Be prepared for breadcrumbs scattered in your path by the filmmakers. There is lust, booze, alcohol, hormonal explosions, deception and most likely manslaughter. Got you interested? Rest assured there are guilty parties here. Lust may beget not only progeny but a path of destructive and unintended results.
Chernick as J.B. masters the role of an unstable emotionally damaged character. Cummings Kraft Dinner romp at the Royal York Hotel is a classic and beautifully acted scene with an irresistible smile and twinkle in her eye. Pingue as Tom admirably portrays a bear of a man with a heart of gold but easily deceivable.
The film will be playing in Toronto at The Canadian Film Fest on 23March2024.
It was directed by Sean Garrity.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPgRlp-6LM0
Check out the festival website at https://www.canfilmfest.ca/the-burning-season
RKS 2024 Film Rating 86/100.
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