Who by Fire

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Who by Fire

In Theaters Fri Mar 14

2h 35m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

83%

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12 Reviews

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A getaway at a secluded log cabin in the forest becomes the site of escalating, multigenerational tensions and anxieties in this disquieting, impeccably mounted coming-of-age drama from Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage (Genesis, New Directors/New Films). Ostensibly a merry reunion between well-known film director Blake Cadieux (Arieh Worthalter, 2024 César winner for Best Actor for The Goldman Case) and his longtime friend and former collaborator Albert Gary (Paul Ahmarani), the vacation gradually becomes something far more complex and less stable, especially with the combustible admixture of Albert's teen son's best friend, Jeff (Noah Parker), and Albert's self-asserting daughter Aliocha (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré). Long-simmering middle-aged resentments surface, set against the anxieties of the young, all captured sensitively by Lesage, who in recent years has proven unparalleled in evoking the psychological contours of teenagers finding their paths through treacherous emotional landscapes. Featuring thrillingly choreographed dinner sequences of mounting tension, Who by Fire confirms Lesage as a major contemporary filmmaker, with its assured tonal negotiation of the naturalistic and the oneiric, the joyous (especially an epic dance interlude to The B-52s) and the ominous.

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Philippe Lesage

Director

Noah Parker

Jeff

Aurélia Arandi-Longpré

Aliocha

Antoine Marchand-Gagnon

Max

Arieh Worthalter

Blake

Paul Ahmarani

Albert

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Ryan Swen

Slant Magazine

One of Who by Fire’s greatest assets is Philippe Lesage’s willingness to shift the tenor of the film to fit the wildly divergent narrative concerns of any given sequence.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 8, 2024

Full Review

Monica Castillo

RogerEbert.com

Despite its unassuming scenario, Lesage orchestrates these various storylines like a conductor, slowly bringing each story into a solo before unleashing their collective sounds in a symphony.

Oct 5, 2024

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Guy Lodge

Variety

Lesage underlines his ability to carve a semblance of a horror movie from everyday domestic drama — confirming him as a filmmaker of considerable grace and daring.

Mar 25, 2024

Full Review

Frank J. Avella

The Contending

The filmmaker creates a taut, sinister and claustrophobic atmosphere, not just in the cabin where most of the narrative takes place, but even when characters are on a mountain top or going down the rapids in canoes...

Rated: B

Dec 19, 2024

Full Review

Stephen Silver

The SS Ben Hecht

It’s a well-crafted film, with Lesage’s camera gorgeously photographing the Quebec woods, although the running time is a bit long-winded, at 161 minutes.

Oct 27, 2024

Full Review

Tom O'Brien

Next Best Picture

Yet so much of “Who By Fire” works precisely because Lesage imbues his characters with the kind of enormous vitality that keeps us invested in their fate.

Rated: 7/10

Oct 14, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

A getaway at a secluded log cabin in the forest becomes the site of escalating, multigenerational tensions and anxieties in this disquieting, impeccably mounted coming-of-age drama from Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage (Genesis, New Directors/New Films). Ostensibly a merry reunion between well-known film director Blake Cadieux (Arieh Worthalter, 2024 César winner for Best Actor for The Goldman Case) and his longtime friend and former collaborator Albert Gary (Paul Ahmarani), the vacation gradually becomes something far more complex and less stable, especially with the combustible admixture of Albert's teen son's best friend, Jeff (Noah Parker), and Albert's self-asserting daughter Aliocha (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré). Long-simmering middle-aged resentments surface, set against the anxieties of the young, all captured sensitively by Lesage, who in recent years has proven unparalleled in evoking the psychological contours of teenagers finding their paths through treacherous emotional landscapes. Featuring thrillingly choreographed dinner sequences of mounting tension, Who by Fire confirms Lesage as a major contemporary filmmaker, with its assured tonal negotiation of the naturalistic and the oneiric, the joyous (especially an epic dance interlude to The B-52s) and the ominous.

Director: Philippe Lesage
Producer: Galilé Marion-Gauvin
Screenwriter: Philippe Lesage
Distributor: KimStim
Production Co: L'Unité Centrale, Shellac Sud
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 14, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 2h 35m