Starting university is never easy, especially if it's in a different country. Then there is the pressure from your parents to do well. On top of that, life can get very complicated. These are just some of the themes explored in Patricia Chica's new film, Montréal Girls.
Montreal Girls tells the story of Ramy played by Hakim Brahimi. Ramy is a young man from the Middle East who moves to Montreal to start medical school, although his true passion is poetry. His musician cousin, Tamer, introduces him to the Montreal underground scene, where Ramy meets two women, Yaz and Desiree. Two Montreal Girls that will make Ramy question his path and help him discover where his true destiny lies.
Director: Patricia Chica
Writers: Patricia Chica, Kamal John Iskander
Stars: Hakim Brahimi, Jasmina Parent, Sana Asad
Filmmaker Patricia Chica offers a moving, realistic, and honest look at how complicated life can be for a college-age person...heck for anyone. The dialogue and the situations our characters find themselves in felt real. Especially those awkward moments. Hakim Brahimi gives a moving performance as Ramy. Watching him fumble in his relationship with Desiree and Yaz was deliciously frustrating. You felt what he was feeling, whether it was his longing to be a poet or the frustration of dealing with his father's expectations of him or trying so hard to have a relationship with a troubled woman.
Sana Asad plays Yaz who, like all the main characters, has layers. While we are never presented with the full details of her life, you can piece together the reasons why she is the way she is with Ramy. This is thanks to the nuance of Asad's acting and Chica and Kamal John Iskander's writing. Jasmina Parent's Desiree is also a deep character with an artistic playfulness. She also has feelings for Ramy and is obviously a better fit for the relationship. She's also not in the mood for any B.S. Parent features a strong female character that the audience can get behind.
What I enjoyed about these characters that Ramy meets is that they each represent a different aspect of life. Even supporting characters like Tamer, Ramy's punk rock cousin, who is reality check Ramy ignores and Phoenix, the poet Ramy aspires to be. All of them help Ramy to discover his true self and lead him down a path that was not the one he intended but the one that best suits him.
This movie has high production value, a fun soundtrack, and feels like a window into what life is like in Montreal. It's also a bit of a love letter to the city of Montreal. Chica chooses some of the most visually interesting places in the city that cinematographer Alexandre Bussière captures perfectly. Once, the scene involving Desiree and Ramy in a viewing area overlooking the entire city was particularly impressive.
Montreal Girls tells a story that will connect with everyone. It presents honest and emotional situations that many of us have been in. Even through its toughest moments, the film holds its own, never feeling like it's crossed the line or that it's "Hollywood" for lack of a better term. These characters are handled with care and you can tell that everyone involved brought their A game. If you like romantic dramas with some comedy thrown in for good measure, then you must watch Montréal Girls.
Montréal Girls makes its world premiere on August 20, 2022 at Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival 2022.
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