Sweet trailer for the coming-of-age film I LIKE MOVIES – A love letter to those who grew up in video stores

A fun trailer for the coming-of-age film has been released I like movies. It’s set in Canada in the golden age of growing up, the ’90s and early 2000s, when we spent our nights and weekends at the video store and the movie theater.

The synopsis reads: “Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen) is a hot-tempered teenager, obsessed with herself and cinema, living in the wilderness of Burlington, Ontario, Canada in the early 2000s.

“He’s the kind of person who, when buying a movie ticket, mentions the director’s name just to show that he’s there for the right reasons. He dreams of New York University, where he will be guided by a grateful Todd Solondz.

“But for Lawrence, who makes every statement with absolute certainty, this is no mere dream: He’s stuck – as long as he can earn thousands of dollars working part-time at his local video store, Sequels, to afford his tuition.

“Lawrence has more serious problems, problems that the 10 free video rentals he receives weekly at Sequels won’t solve. His self-centeredness threatens his only true friendship, with longtime friend and fellow loner Matt Macarchuk (Percy Hynes White), the staged co-star and co-creator of his student short film.

“It becomes increasingly clear that Lawrence’s obsession with cinema (and his inability to tolerate anyone) is a way of burying a world of pain and avoiding any real connection.”

The film is the protagonist Isaiah Lehtinen as Lawrence, along with Romina D’Ugo, Krista Ponti, Percy Hynes White, Alex AteahAND Andy McQueen.

It opened at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival to great reviews, as well as the 2023 Santa Barbara Film Festival. I like movies was written and directed by the Canadian independent filmmaker Chandler Levack in his directorial debut.

It seems like a sweet reminder of my adolescence. I have spent countless hours watching movies on Super Duper Video and Blockbuster. I love a good coming-of-age story, and this one seems to be a solid one.

Check out the trailer below and watch I like movies when it releases straight to VOD on November 1st.