Recensioni degli utenti

Rating would've been 10/10 if not for some pacing problems, and maybe a tighter run time.

Some of the reviews here are saying there are "too many stereotypes" in the movie. I can tell you that those people have not lived and breathed real-life Scarborough. Although it is possible for someone to grow up or live there and be blind to what goes on, it is unfair that they dismiss what the film has accomplished here. Sure, there are films like The Florida Project, and many others that explore various disenfranchised neighborhoods in North America. But this one is about Scarborough, and really, only people who know Scarborough can have any credence here.

I lived in Scarborough briefly as a child, until my single mother decided to move to a "better" neighbourhood to "spare me" from growing up there. I have since returned as a teacher, and many of my teacher friends grew up in Scarborough. From the diverse cast of characters, to their backstories, to the characters you meet on the street, subway, restaurants, to the tragedies that occur, they are all real people I have taught or encountered in my time in Scarborough. As for Ms. Hina's struggle against the white-lensed system, I have personally had administration send emails and speak to me in exactly the same manner portrayed in the film. The only added layer that is missing, but may not have worked in the film, is how many teachers end up not caring and becoming part of the dysfunctional system, as they grow weary of rolling the proverbial boulder up hill. I would say the film did a spectacular job in capturing the humanity and simple joys of Scarborough, without leaning on the more dramatic and sensational realities of what some locals would call Scarlem. I'm glad the crime and violence aspects were not the central focus here. And I can see why the Toronto Film Festival voted and awarded this film the Changemaker Award, because we feel the authenticity of it, while giving Scarborough a voice without relying on the crutch of showing the less savoury parts of it.

Film-wise, no, it's not the best film in terms of the mechanics of it. If it were, it would've gone farther in awards season. But as a local who loves film and has NEVER seen a portrayal of urban Canada life like this before, I'm so proud and honoured with the representation this film...well...represents 🤣.

To the powers that be, please, more films about Canada like this. Flemingdon in the house!

As some one who worked in Toronto social services, this movie is so spot on with the portrayal of those in need and fall between the cracks, and those that try to assist them with accessing the support they want and need. Bravo.

Very real issues + great performances from the child and adult actors = a film worth watching for people who want substance in their films.

Not a feel good, happy ending story. Not full of action and other things that some need in a film. Just a ground level story of people trying to survive in very trying circumstances.

The 3 lead child actors were beyond great with Anna Claire Beitel outstanding. Shout out to Aliya Kanani for her amazing performance.

As someone who lives in Scarborough, this resonated with my community in ways unimaginable. Flawed, unfiltered and emotional. This story tells the tale of one of the most underfunded and vulnerable communities here in Toronto. From healthcare to basic living inequalities, this film dives deep into the diverse stories of families attending a local drop-in community program.

Let's address the folks that found aspects of this movie somehow "distasteful". To do this, we have to first recognize the socioeconomic circumstances of the characters.

Let's start with Ms. Mina who is criticized by some viewers as breaking "professional" boundaries. This is not only an extremely narrow-minded and privileged outlook on the portrayal of teachers in low-income community programs but overlooks the aspects of being human. Ms. Mina builds connections with the parents and students to help them have a sense of normalcy in their complicated lives outside the class. These are 'some' of the same critics who would have no problem with Hillary Swank's character breaking boundaries in the movie "Freedom Writers", but when it's a Muslim teacher wearing a hijab, it's somehow controversial. It's tough being a coordinator or teacher for such community programs, some teachers have had to take out of their own wallets just to provide for students like myself when I was a kid, and their actions went a long way for kids like me. Being a compassionate teacher goes a long way, especially for vulnerable students who live under stressful conditions on a daily. It is rare to find a gem who dedicates their heart and soul at government funded community centres, Ms. Mina embodies what teachers should be, the opposite of detached and cold.

A few comments also mentioned the stereotypes in this movie, I can assure you they are not residents of Scarborough. These are not stereotypes but the harsh realities and true stories echoed by some in the community.

And lastly, if you found this movie "too heavy", that simply is the nature of life. Not everything can be sunshines and rainbows. The world is complex and full of emotions, this movie reflects just that. This movie is no cheesy Hollywood show like "This Is Us". It reflects the realities faced by so many living in low income neighbourhoods. When in Toronto, I encourage you to come to Scarborough, experience the vibrant cultures, food and meet people in the community. Only then can you judge for yourself.

Being a child who grew up in Toronto Community Housing I have the sincerest appreciation to everyone involved in crafting this film. Those who grew up in low income neighborhoods can relate to the struggle it is to live in poverty - surrounded by abuse, lack of resources, illness, and crime. It's a state of perpetual stress that places a heavy burden on parents and children and the film captures this perfectly. Many will find this film uncomfortable to watch, I hope you try to change your perspective and sit through the film. I hope this film raises more awareness to the conditions children grow up in low-income neighborhoods and the importance of community programs.

6.5 stars

Although I enjoyed the movie, the book was much better. It was incredible to see the characters come to life and how similar they were to the image in my head of how they looked(especially Bing). The movie stayed true to a lot of the elements that were beautifully written in the book, that being said there was quite a bit that was left out. When reading the book I had every emotion come out, watching the movie although mesmerizing from how beautifully it was shot it I had no emotional attachment to it. The books ending had me sobbing and full of joy from reading the masterpiece, the movies ending left it feeling incomplete. 6.5 stars.

This film is beautiful and heartbreaking and captures such an authentic feel of what it's like to live in the communities that are often (purposely) forgotten by the powers that be due to race and class. The characters are complex and nuanced, and the acting is natural and compelling, especially from the children, which is so impressive considering many were first time actors and were dealing with portraying extremely tough topics like abuse, poverty, bullying, and acceptance.

This movie hit me in all the feels. It follows three kids throughout a school year, and having read the book, these kids were perfectly cast. It's hard to believe that none of them have acted before considering that they dealt with such heavy subject matter like complete professionals. The adults in this movie were also incredible, and in fact I can't think of a single weak link when it comes to the acting (which is usually not the case in microbudget movies!). Shout out to Ms Hina whose facial expressions spoke volumes throughout the movie. The visuals are on point, and it feels like each shot was crafted with purpose and intent, even if that intent was to reflect the chaos of a particular scene. Plus, the story. The story! It was refreshing to see the humanity behind a community that's so often only represented by stereotypes. It was raw, it was beautiful, it was heartbreaking, and it was real. Thank you for this.

However the scarborough man in me will always wonder how mans dem walked from bellamy and lawrence to Kingston and Galloway so fast tho still.

P.s. If you haven't read the book, you should read the book.

Scarborough Forever.

I mean, Scarborough isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn't as good as most reviews suggest. In my opinion, it appears to be a bit derivative, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Scarborough doesn't strike me as being groundbreaking work, though.

At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like this film, but as it went on the stories of the 3 children and their families were rounded out. The 3 children and their parents come to know one another through a literacy program and the teacher who runs it. This film illustrates the fact that just one person in a child's life can have a profound impact- for good or for bad. In the case of one of the school kids (a peripheral role in the film) who comes from a wealthier family we see it illustrated that time spent, listening, and teaching are more powerful than money when it comes to impacting the growth and well-being of a child.

This film evokes the realities of growing up in situations where abuse, poverty, and other factors such as racism, misogyny, and socioeconomic barriers loom large in the lives of both the children and their parents, who carry their own traumas with them.

Incredibly well-acted by the 3 children who are the focus of the film. It is a beautiful, emotionally charged film with many little moments that read larger. Definitely worth the watch.

"Scarborough" is a drama full of clichés, and stereotypes but it works on all levels. It's a very heavy film because it deals with children and the cruel reality of the marginalized people in the Scarborough community. It portrays some inhabitants with brutal authenticity. They suffer and also help each other to cope with their social problems. The film hurts us, and leaves us outraged, angry, and appalled but also hopeful for the future of the youth.

Kudos to directors Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson for the level of detail and for bringing so much emotion to the screen. But the entire movie belongs to the child actors, they are simply sublime. They are so perfect in their characterization that makes us believe they are not actors. They are breathtaking in their performances. This movie should be watched by all political and social workers who directly or indirectly are part of these processes so that everyone stops "....continuing to fail her..."

Would have been a good movie if it had risen above the stereotypes- I don't mind you depicting a good natured Muslim immigrant teacher but there's no need to diss Christians and show them all as mean hypocrites. Also the abused Filipino immigrant single mum, the abusive white trash guy and the native Canadian single mum with the autistic kid are all tired old stereotypes. Rise above them. Nothing new and groundbreaking in the movie.

Score contributed to acting and kids performance. Theme just need to be prepared before watch. Heartbreaking is the feeling, if u in good mood, don't let this screw you.

Based on the novel by Catherine Hernandez: In the titular multicultural district of Toronto, the day-to-day struggles of various families are portrayed with a focus on three children: Bing (Liam Diaz), Laura (Anna Claire Beitel), and Sylvie (Mekiya Essence Fox).

It is easy to feel for many of the characters in the film especially the children whose acting portrayals are powerful particularly Beitel. There is also a lovely performance by Aliya Kanani who portrays Ms. Hima, a hijab-wearing childhood educator who shows genuine warmth for the children.

The many difficulties of the characters are well portrayed but they can also be so realistic to the point that the end effect is bleak and depressing. The film also has a problem in the extremes of the modern woke mindset: every adult white character in the film - no exceptions (and there are many of them) are any combination of stupid, insensitive, and/or downright cruel. The race contempt was clear and lowers what could have been a better film. One particular scene includes Ms. Hina being unfairly chided by a white education supervisor. In modern Toronto's education system, this is a highly unlikely event which would likely have caused the supervisor to be fired. With less bias and stereotypes, this could have been a better film. - dbamateurcritic.

I know what they tried to do here; they just failed miserably.

This movie is full of issues biggest one being nobody had any coherent plan or ability to develop anything. This whole movie, over 2 hours of it, is a random mess of scenes and people doing random things that alternate between characters if i can call them that. There is a style where you try to capture life as if it were real and not a set.. THE FLORIDA PROJECT pulls it off. They should have watched that first before playing writers and producers! Because they tried to give it that gritty observer style but couldn't even get the camera angles right.. as basic of a thing as that.

Nothing follows anything here. Its just a random scene, it has potential, and then it stops and there is another random scene with some random person doing something random. I keep going back trying to make sense of what happened to X... last time X was in a subway and now X is running a daycare while being evicted.. who are those kids.. how what anybody explain anything. Oh never mind, its over, we switched to another family close up on a fat kids face. OK that explains the whole daycare scene we just had.. Sure. Makes perfect sense!

It basically tries to tell 3 stories of 3 messed up kids from messed up parents. It is a bad parent shaming movie.. but it doesn't do that well either. We have no idea who the parents are, what they do... oh wait we know that one of them has a full time job but cannot afford 5$ ramen box. But he has a car. And pays his rent. And can't cook, so what does he eat... I can go on for ages because nothing here makes sense and nothing is logical. Such a disaster.

Not a single story is told. Nothing connects with anything. One kids story i did not even get who were the parents - truly it was so mind boggling boring and badly done i just zoned out. The constant jumping around ruins any semblance of interest you might develop to watch this.

They focus on one family more than the others it seems and as an idea it was the best written one of the 3. But even then it just becomes vaporware. This whole movie cannot hold a plot line for more than 30 seconds before jumping to something else completely unrelated.

The center which should be a pivotal point in how it helps and transforms these neglected kids, is equally undeveloped. Nothing in this movie that had to do with the center drove the point that anything impactfull happened there. The kids basically did not interact. It was just scenes of random background noise and extra kids to fill the screen. If you have ever been to even an afterschool program of any kind, you can tell these producers have not. I doubt they even have been in school because it is difficult to butcher a classroom environment so bad like they did.

Now people will vote with their emotions and pretend this is a good movie because of the subject matter and the message it is trying to convey. I am not those people. I look at a movie at how well it is made as a movie and how effectively it progresses its plot (story). This is horrible, im sorry it is. It had some decent scenes yes, but then again if you throw a pile of mud on a wall, some of it will stick.

They had a concept, no script and no plot. Mashed it all together and expected the viewer to imagine all that never was.

4\10 You couldnt even make me care for neglected kids here. Shame.