SADIES LAST DAYS ON EARTH (Michael Seater). 90 minutes. Opens Friday (December 9). See listing. Rating: NNN
The default state of adolescence is a sense that the world is about to end, so the premise of Sadies Last Days On Earth doesnt feel like much of a stretch.
Toronto writer/director Michael Seaters follow-up to People Hold On gives the teen-angst movie a properly apocalyptic framework, focusing on an anxious high school sophomore (Morgan Taylor Campbell) whos convinced the world is about to end and determined to check off everything on her bucket list before that happens, including patching things up with her ex-BFF, sneaking into a bar and kissing a boy.
There are a lot of ways to play this material, and Seater opts for what I can best describe as a YA vibe: eccentric and busy, with exaggerated supporting characters, some of whom are more appealing than others. I dont blame Munro Chambers for how irritating his gadfly character is hes clearly doing exactly what hes been asked. But I was also hoping for that characters violent death.
Still, Sadies Last Days On Earth gets more things right than it misses. Its pessimistic comedy is layered with genuine feeling (Sadies irrational terrors are rooted in some very real issues), and Campbell and Shoot The Messengers Clark Backo have a bittersweet chemistry as estranged friends working their way to a reconciliation.
Plus, theres a club sequence shot at Kensingtons Cold Tea. Pretty sure thats a first.
