Praise be to a low-budget Canadian film that manages to squeeze Pretty Woman, Hunter Thompson, and JLaw’s fappening into its witty script, all while asking, “Why does our society hate gold diggers?” In pursuit of an answer, Blake (Jessica Barden) is the ambitious journalism student who writes herself into a sugar-baby relationship with a hipster prof, although her real connection is with a colleague, Jacob (Brett Dier), a little closer in age, status, and moral fibre. Riverdale’s Camila Mendes and Hayley Law also bring their mojo to a small comic gem brimming with spot-on performances and sporting a serious bead on the struggles of a generation super-programmed to view everything as a commodity, body and soul included. Vancouver native Carly Stone’s feature debut slayed at SXSW, and rightly so. And when has Sudbury ever looked this… not awful?

Published October, 2018