All My Puny Sorrows (film)

Last updated

All My Puny Sorrows
All My Puny Sorrows poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael McGowan
Written byMichael McGowan
Based on All My Puny Sorrows
by Miriam Toews
Produced by
  • Michael McGowan
  • Patrice Theroux
  • Tyler Levine
  • Katelyn Cursio
Starring
Cinematography Daniel Grant
Edited by
Music by Jonathan Goldsmith
Production
companies
  • Mulmur Feed Co.
  • Sugar Shack Productions
  • Carousel Pictures
Distributed by Mongrel Media
Release dates
  • September 10, 2021 (2021-09-10)(TIFF)
  • April 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)(Canada)
Running time
103 minutes [1]
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million

All My Puny Sorrows is a 2021 Canadian drama film written, produced, and directed by Michael McGowan serving as an adaptation of the 2014 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews. It stars Alison Pill and Sarah Gadon as two Mennonite sisters who leave their religious lives behind. Amybeth McNulty, Mare Winningham, Donal Logue, and Aly Mawji also star in supporting roles, with Mongrel Media set to distribute the film. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2021, and was released in theaters in Canada on April 15, 2022. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Contents

Cast

Production

In December 2020, All My Puny Sorrows began filming in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in North Bay, Ontario. [2] With a cast composed of Alison Pill, Sarah Gadon, Amybeth McNulty, Mare Winningham, Donal Logue, and Aly Mawji, filming wrapped that same month on December 16. [3] Shot on a $5 million budget, the project was financed by multiple funding companies, including Telefilm Canada, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, and CBC Films. [3] Jonathan Goldsmith composed the score for the film. [4]

Release

The film premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, in the Special Presentations program. [5] It was also screened as the opening film of the 2021 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival and the 2021 Calgary International Film Festival. [6] [7]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 40 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A well-meaning but flawed adaptation of its source material, All My Puny Sorrows benefits from Alison Pill's searing performance." [8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 59 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [9]

Accolades

The Toronto International Film Festival listed the film in its annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021. [10]

Accolades received by All My Puny Sorrows
AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Canadian Screen Awards April 10, 2022 Best Art Direction / Production Design Danny Haeberlin Nominated [11]
Best Cinematography Daniel Grant Nominated
Best Editing Michelle Szemberg and Orlee Buium Won
Best Original Score Jonathan Goldsmith Won
Best Casting in a Film Heidi LevittNominated
Best Sound Mixing Joe Morrow, Lou Solakofski, Jonathan St. Clair, and Thomas DubeNominated
Best Sound Editing Martin Gwynn Jones, Brent Pickett, Jane Tattersall, and Brennan MercerNominated
Best Visual Effects Alex BoothbyNominated
Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival October 3, 2021 Outstanding Canadian FeatureAll My Puny SorrowsWon [12]
Directors Guild of Canada October 23, 2021Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Michael McGowan Nominated [13]
Best Picture Editing – Feature FilmMichelle Szemberg and Orlee BuiumWon
Best Sound Editing - Feature FilmJane Tattersall, Martin Gwynn Jones, Brennan Mercer, Sue Fawcett, and Brent PickettWon
Festival du Film Canadien de DieppeMarch 30, 2022Best Film Michael McGowan Won [14]
Best Actress Alison Pill Won
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards March 7, 2022 Best Canadian Film All My Puny SorrowsWon [15]
Best Director of a Canadian Film Michael McGowan Nominated [16]
Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film Michael McGowan Won [15]
Best Actress in a Canadian Film Alison Pill Won
Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film Sarah Gadon Won

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Pill</span> Canadian actress (born 1985)

Alison Pill is a Canadian actress. A former child actress, Pill began her career at age 12, appearing in numerous films and television series. She transitioned to adult roles and her breakthrough came with the television series The Book of Daniel (2006). That same year, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival</span> Film festival in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, also known as Cinéfest and Cinéfest Sudbury is an annual film festival in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, held over nine days each September. It is one of the largest film festivals in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miriam Toews</span> Canadian writer (born 1964)

Miriam Toews is a Canadian writer and author of nine books, including A Complicated Kindness (2004), All My Puny Sorrows (2014), and Women Talking (2018). She has won a number of literary prizes including the Governor General's Award for Fiction and the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award for her body of work. Toews is also a three-time finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a two-time winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Gadon</span> Canadian actress

Sarah Lynn Gadon is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1999), Mutant X (2002), and Dark Oracle (2004). She also worked as a voice actress on various television productions. Gadon gained recognition for her roles in David Cronenberg's films A Dangerous Method (2011), Cosmopolis (2012), and Maps to the Stars (2014). She also starred in Denis Villeneuve's thriller Enemy (2013), the period drama Belle (2013), and the action horror film Dracula Untold (2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael McGowan (director)</span> Canadian film director

Michael McGowan is a Canadian filmmaker who wrote and directed the feature films Saint Ralph, One Week, Still Mine, and Score: A Hockey Musical.

Oliver Sherman is a Canadian drama film, directed by Ryan Redford and released in 2010.

<i>Preggoland</i> 2014 film

Preggoland is a 2014 Canadian comedy film directed by Jacob Tierney and written by Sonja Bennett. The film stars Bennett as Ruth, a 35-year-old single woman who falsely claims to be pregnant to deflect her friends' and family's mounting disapproval of her directionless, irresponsible lifestyle.

<i>All My Puny Sorrows</i> 2014 novel

All My Puny Sorrows is the sixth novel by Canadian writer Miriam Toews. The novel won the 2014 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2015 Folio Prize for Literature, and the 2015 Wellcome Book Prize. Toews has said that the novel draws heavily on the events leading up to the 2010 suicide of her sister, Marjorie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Lalonde</span> Canadian filmmaker

Jeremy LaLonde is a Canadian filmmaker. He is known for his work in Canadian film and television.

Amybeth McNulty is an Irish-Canadian actress. She is known for her starring role as Anne Shirley-Cuthbert in the CBC/Netflix drama series Anne with an E (2017–2019), based on the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

<i>Sharkwater Extinction</i> 2018 Canadian film

Sharkwater Extinction is a 2018 Canadian documentary film directed by Rob Stewart. It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. A sequel to his 2007 film Sharkwater, the film, which Stewart was working on at the time of his death in a diving accident in January 2017, was completed by the Rob Stewart Foundation in collaboration with director Sturla Gunnarsson and editor Nick Hector.

<i>Wildhood</i> 2021 Canadian coming-of-age film

Wildhood is a 2021 Canadian coming-of-age romantic drama film, written, produced, and directed by Bretten Hannam.

<i>Kicking Blood</i> 2021 Canadian horror comedy film

Kicking Blood is a 2021 Canadian horror comedy film directed and co-written by Blaine Thurier. The film stars Alanna Bale as Anna, a vampire who decides to try to quit her addiction to blood after meeting and falling in love with Robbie, a human recovering alcoholic.

<i>Portraits from a Fire</i> 2021 Canadian comedy-drama film

Portraits from a Fire is the first narrative feature film written and directed by a Tsilhqot'in filmmaker.

The 2022 edition of the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, the 34th edition in the event's history, took place from September 17 to 25, 2022 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The lineup was announced on August 25.

Georgia Toews is a Canadian novelist. Her debut novel Hey, Good Luck Out There was published in 2022.

<i>Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe</i> 2023 Canadian documentary film by Robert McCallum

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is a 2023 Canadian documentary film, directed by Robert McCallum. The film profiles Ernie Coombs, the children's entertainer who created and starred in the long-running Canadian television series Mr. Dressup, documenting his career and its impact on Canadian culture and entertainment.

<i>Seagrass</i> (film) 2023 Canadian drama film

Seagrass is a 2023 Canadian drama film, written and directed by Meredith Hama-Brown. Hama-Brown's full-length feature debut, the film stars Ally Maki as Judith, a woman who is at a family retreat with her husband Steve and their children following the death of her mother, where she and Steve are coping with tensions in their marriage arising from their status as an interracial couple.

Swan Song is a 2023 Canadian documentary film, directed by Chelsea McMullan.

References

  1. "All My Puny Sorrows". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  2. Wiseman, Andreas (December 2, 2020). "'All My Puny Sorrows': Alison Pill, Sarah Gadon, Amybeth McNulty & Mare Winningham Lead Canadian Drama, Voltage Boards Sales". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Malyk, Lauren (December 3, 2020). "Michael McGowan rolls on All My Puny Sorrows". Playback . Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  4. "Jonathan Goldsmith Scoring Michael McGowan's 'All My Puny Sorrows'". Film Music Reporter. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  5. Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 20, 2021). "2021 Toronto Festival Unveils 'Dear Evan Hansen' As Opening Night Premiere; Check Out First Slated Films". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  6. Ulrichsen, Heidi (August 26, 2021). "Cinéfest still presenting hybrid festival for 2021, but trying to restore some normalcy". Sudbury.com . Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  7. Volmers, Eric (August 12, 2021). "All My Puny Sorrows to open Calgary International Film Festival". Calgary Herald . Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  8. "All My Puny Sorrows". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  9. "All My Puny Sorrows". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  10. Norman Wilner, "TIFF announces Canada’s Top Ten films of 2021" Archived December 6, 2021, at the Wayback Machine . Now , December 6, 2021.
  11. Furdyk, Brent (February 15, 2022). "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, Sort Of & Scarborough Lead The Pack". Entertainment Tonight Canada . Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  12. Macdonald, Donald (October 3, 2021). "Sudbury entertainment briefs: New novel; Cinefest awards". The Sudbury Star . Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  13. Kelly Townsend, "All My Puny Sorrows leads film nominees for 2021 DGC Awards". Playback , September 24, 2021.
  14. "The Quebec film The contemplation of the mystery awarded in France". Fair Ground Circus. March 30, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.[ permanent dead link ]
  15. 1 2 Dana Gee, "The Power of the Dog named year's best feature by Vancouver Film Critics Circle". Vancouver Sun , March 8, 2022.
  16. Dana Gee (February 20, 2022). "The Power of the Dog, Night Raiders lead Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards nominations". Vancouver Sun . Retrieved February 20, 2022.