I Like Movies

Rewind to the early-2000s in Chandler Levack’s funny, heartfelt tribute to teenage cinephilia and the static-tinged search for self-discovery.

In the last-gasp days of the video rental era, awkward teen cineaste Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen) takes a job at his local suburban video store, convinced it’s the first step on his inevitable rise to cinematic greatness.

As his friends, family and co-workers chafe against his auteurist arrogance, Lawrence’s carefully scripted self-image unspools. This is a bittersweet portrait of youthful ambition colliding with the realities of growing up.

Canadian filmmaker Chandler Levack’s debut feature is a cringey, cuddly time capsule in more ways than one – not just a loving homage to the early-aughts, the lost romance of video stores and the heyday of the teen comedy, but also the kind of intimate, character-driven indie cinema that defined a generation of DVD dreamers. A heartfelt, sharply observed coming-of-age dramedy, I Like Movies is an ode to those formative years, back when VHS tape felt infinite.