Werther (Douglas Booth) a prepped out overconfident and shallow young man from the ritzy Anglo Montreal suburb of Westmount arrives in Toronto with geeky germaphobe buddy Paul (Jaouhar Ben Ayed) on a family errand. Once completed Werther will journey to Europe “to write his memoirs” but being so young what memoirs could this pompous ass have other than expounding on his self importance and fantasies.
While enjoying a gelato at the coolest (of course) new gelateria in Toronto he encounters Charlotte Buff (Alison Pill) and her younger sister Sissy (Iris Apatow). Full of bluster and self adoration he believes Charlotte is the love of his life. That evening he is invited to a birthday get together for Charlotte at a hotel and they hit it off spectacularly but poor infatuated Werther is told by Charlotte she is engaged to big law firm rising star Albert (Patrick J. Adams).
Charlotte, coping with the loss of her mother, assumed motherly duties for years with scant time to enjoy her life and Werther having no duties other than self satisfaction offers Charlotte a glimpse of the exciting life she never experienced. Albert is tangled up in his law practice ignoring, or taking for granted Charlotte and cunning Werther exploits that weakness.
Romance blossoms and it is looking like a traditional uninspiring romcom until Charlotte decides to take the straight and narrow, reject Werther and focus on her relationship with Albert. Albert and Charlotte wed. Post Carlotte wedding attending a law society gala Werther admits to Albert he loves Charlotte causing her to blast Werther to pieces full of vitriol and hatred labelling him juvenile and pretentious and suggests he return to Montreal where he can stroke his ego.
But wait! Werther visits Albert and Charlotte’s country home to apologize for his ill-timed romantic pronouncement and Charlotte, a bit saddened and vodka woozy laments Albert’s indifference and holding Werther’s hand glides off to the bedroom. The romcom is in full motion.
Wait again, the traditional romcom is shattered by Albert’s shotgun.
Apologies to Werther are in order here. He is more than a self-absorbed cad. The finale bolsters the creation of a classic Canadian reverse romcom. What a stratospheric finish as the credits roll watching the Crazy Dancer gyrate to Whilemine’s “ich gehör wieder mir”. Watch her video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq07an5DH8M . What guts to go with a German hit song. Bravo!
Douglas Booth is particularly well cast for his role.
You can watch a clip of the film here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/163JxofQd2A4tC8_4JrIN6S134c-P9NZQ
Directed by José Avelino Gilles Corbet Lourenço.
Theatrical release 10January2025.
RKS 2025 Film Rating 87/100.
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