by Annette Basile
Worth: $16.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Lane Webber, June Laporte, Daniel Gravelle, Hallea Jones, Jordan Dawson
Intro:
… a cleverly made film about relationships and music that has emotional resonance.
The opening sequences of this film trick you into thinking that you’re watching a rockumentary – one with a gritty, DIY feel. Soon enough you realise that the subject of this film – late ‘90/noughties indie band, The New Normals – is fictional. But that gritty authenticity lasts until the final frame.
The focal point of The New Normals is Evan, a trans man, lead singer and guitarist played by talented trans actor/musician Lane Webber. It’s 1999, and Evan and his girlfriend/bandmate Isis (June Laporte) are about to leave small-town Canada, taking The New Normals to Toronto to try to find their place in the thriving indie scene. But things are about to get complicated. A love triangle will soon emerge within the five-piece as they court success…
The band stalls when they first arrive in Toronto, where they all share a home – Isis concentrates on her studies and bassist Coco (Hallea Jones) gets stuck with phone sex work to make ends meet. Coco and drummer Angus (Jordan Dawson) are also a couple, and sometimes guitarist Lugh (Daniel Gravelle) – Angus’s gay brother – has to cover his ears, trying to block out the sounds of the couples’ noisy sex.
Yes, there is sex. There are drugs. And there is plenty of rock and roll in We Forgot to Break Up – an enigmatic title that makes you wonder who or what is heading for Splitsville, the band or the couples? The music is mostly excellent, but it doesn’t always meet the promise of the stomping indie punk that plays over the opening titles.
Director Karen Knox, who has a string of acting credits under her name, has aimed for integrity. The soundtrack was drawn from Canadian indie bands of the period, and she was determined to cast a trans actor and real muso to play the part of Evan. Webber doesn’t let her down, he has an unforced presence and a gorgeous voice, while the rest of the cast can’t be faulted.
Knox was influenced by Dig!, the must-see documentary about The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. She also recruited Torquil Campbell, a Canadian indie legend from the band Stars, to write original tunes for the New Normals, and the semi-doco style works splendidly, camouflaging budget limitations and adding to the realness.
Based on Kayt Burgess’s novel, Stairwell, there’s a sense that local audiences who lived in and around Toronto’s indie scene will get a little extra out of this, yet the film doesn’t alienate non-Canucks.
We Forgot to Break Up is a cleverly made film about relationships and music that has emotional resonance.
