Spinning Reels

Wednesday, December 11th, 2024 | Sponsored by Connor Ryan, RBC Wealth Management

After her husband’s untimely death, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot flouts convention by assuming the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured together. Steering the company through dizzying political and financial reversals, she defies her critics and revolutionizes the champagne industry to become one of the world’s first great businesswomen.

Official Selection, 2023 Toronto International Film Festival

Wednesday, November 27th, 2024 | Sponsored by Carol Howorucha, RBC Wealth Management

After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands – where she grew up – hoping to heal. Adapted from the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot.

“Saoirse Ronan is mesmerising in sobering addiction drama” ~ The Guardian

“A brutally honest drama about addiction and recovery, strength and survival, mental health and the ability of the sea, the land and of people to restore life…” ~ Apple TV

Wednesday, November 13th, 2024 | Sponsored by Muskoka Natural Food Market

Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s father Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world, and at the mercy of a failed justice system.

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024 | Sponsored by Muskoka Lawn Bowling Club

When melancholic construction worker Dan (Keith Kupferer) finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater’s production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.

Wednesday, September 25th, 2024 | Sponsored by Judy Watson

The Boy in the Woods is a Canadian drama film, directed by Rebecca Snow. It follows the true story of Max (Jett Klyne), a Jewish boy escaping Nazi persecution in Eastern Europe. After he is separated from his family, Max finds refuge with a Christian peasant Jasko (Richard Armitage) who hides him in plain site until a tense stand — off with Nazi police. Afraid for his own family’s life, Jasko sends Max to live in the woods where he learns to survive alone.

Wednesday, September 25th, 2024 | Sponsored by Lynda’s Yoga Break

A mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in a profoundly moving performance) and her teenage daughter (Lola Petticrew) must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird. From debut filmmaker Daina O. Pusic, Tuesday is a heart-rending fairy tale about the echoes of loss and finding resilience in the unexpected.

Wednesday, September 11th, 2024 | Sponsored by Shamrock Lodge

EZRA follows Max Bernal (Bobby Cannavale), a stand-up comedian living with his father (Robert De Niro), while struggling to co-parent his autistic son Ezra (introducing William Fitzgerald) with his ex-wife (Rose Byrne). When forced to confront difficult decisions about their son’s future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both their lives. Directed by Tony Goldwyn, who also appears in the film alongside additional cast members Vera Farmiga, Rainn Wilson and Whoopi Goldberg, EZRA is an endearing and often funny exploration of a family determined to find their way through life’s complexities with humor, compassion, and heart.

Official Selection, 2023 Toronto International Film Festival

Wednesday, May 15th, 2024 | Sponsored by The Norwood Theatre

A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a dark, absurd scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger-than-fiction true story, “Wicked Little Letters” follows two neighbours: deeply-conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents start to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women, led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss and Rose might not be the culprit after all.

Wednesday, May 8th, 2024 | Sponsored by Muskoka Music Mix

Hirayama works as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo and he seems content with his simple life. Outside of his structured routine, he has a great passion for music, books, and the trees he loves to photograph. He drives to work in his minivan, fully equipped with his cleaning gear, while The Rolling Stones, Patti Smith, or Lou Reed ring in ageless, husky hums from a tape player. Through unexpected encounters, more of Hirayama’s past is revealed as he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

Oscar-nominated for Best International Feature

Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 | Sponsored by Muskoka Music Mix

The Old Oak is the last pub standing in a once thriving mining village in northern England, a gathering space for a community that has fallen on hard times. There is growing anger, resentment, and a lack of hope among the residents, but the pub and its proprietor TJ are a fond presence to their customers. When a group of Syrian refugees move into the floundering village, a decisive rift fuelled by prejudices develops between the community and its newest inhabitants. The formation of an unexpected friendship between TJ and a young Syrian woman named Yara opens up new possibilities for the divided village in this deeply moving drama about loss, fear, and the difficulty of finding hope.