60+ great Canadian films, starring Canadians, filmed IN Canada!
With only a few minor cheats (which I'll note!), I've compiled a list of truly great Canadian film that fits the bill, from cast to director to location and back. Anyone who thinks we're not a powerhouse in our own right should see a few of these movies! (I've stopped at 50 so far, and they are - with the exception of my top pick - in no particular order, but I've already thought of several that deserve to be here, so don't be surprised if I come back and add more...and please feel free to leave suggestions for any I've overlooked! As you'll see, I've added a few comment-suggested titles already; thanks for the recs!) ~Last updated October 2012
List activity
77K views
• 3 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
62 titles
- DirectorDon McKellarStarsDon McKellarSandra OhRoberta MaxwellA group of very different individuals with different ideas of how to face the end come together as the world is expected to end in six hours at the turn of the century.Don McKellar's directorial debut, and an absolute masterpiece. Toronto like you've never seen it (that toppled streetcar will haunt your dreams, I promise you). Definitely an early point in the careers of faces that are familiar to us now: among many others, Sandra Oh, Sarah Polley, Callum Keith Rennie, Geneviève Bujold, the late great Tracy Wright, and even Don himself in the starring role. Bonus: David Cronenberg proves that he can act, not just direct. An excellent film on every level.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsIan HolmSarah PolleyCaerthan BanksA bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to defend the families, but he discovers everything isn't what it seems.Rightfully nominated for an Oscar; in a different year, Atom Egoyan would've won! Bruce Greenwood and Sarah Polley are standouts, as usual, and the frozen north is beautiful and forbidding at the same time. This film deserves all of the international acclaim it's gotten.
- DirectorBruce McDonaldStarsHugh DillonCallum Keith RennieJohn Pyper-FergusonA group of washed-up Canadian punk rockers get back together for a road trip in memory of a dear friend who was supposedly shot, or so rumors imply. As they travel, they ignore the underlying psychological darkness within each other.You know it's gotta be badass if A) Hugh Dillon is in it and B) Quentin Tarantino put his name on the reissue of the DVD! Director Bruce McDonald takes the source novel and propels it well out of "Spinal Tap" territory; a lot of people are still pretty sure HCL are a real band. And, hey, the actual Canadian group Billy Talent named their band after Callum Keith Rennie's character.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.Okay, so Jeremy Irons isn't Canadian. You got me there. But he isn't twins, either, and you'd never believe THAT once you see this film! David Cronenberg gets a career-high performance out of his lead actor(s?!?), and includes a couple of real Canuck twins in the mix for good measure: Jill Hennessey and her sister Jacqueline. Add a glorious performance by Geneviève Bujold into the mix, and you get one of Cronenberg's finest works. This is one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen.
- DirectorErik CanuelStarsMichel BeaudryPatrice BélangerPierre BoudreauTwo Canadian detectives, one from Ontario and the other from Quebec, must work together when a murdered victim is found on the Ontario-Quebec border.This captures perfectly the divide between English- and French-speaking Canada, and does so by being surprisingly hilarious. Watching two officers having to split jurisdiction when a dead body is found slung over the sign that separates Ontario and Québec is funnier than you might imagine; Colm Feore is always wonderful, and there are some great Canadian cameos throughout (Rick Mercer is but one!).
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsBruce GreenwoodElias KoteasDon McKellarA man plagued by neuroses frequents the club Exotica in an attempt to find solace, but even there his past is never far away.Every Toronto resident will wish Exotica was a real place. Atom Egoyan works his magic on a building somewhere downtown; I've still not found it. :) Fantastic lead performances by Bruce Greenwood, Don McKellar, Elias Koteas, and the divine Mia Kirshner all build to a conclusion that ties the interwoven storylines together in a thoroughly unexpected - and deeply touching - way. Gorgeous.
- DirectorBruce McDonaldStarsDon McKellarValerie BuhagiarEarl PastkoA small-town barber goes on a road trip from Thunder Bay to New Orleans with an unpredictable woman and a coffin.There's no other way to describe this than to call it "delightfully quirky." If ever you've seen Don McKellar in anything and liked him, add this to your must-see list.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsJulianne MooreAmanda SeyfriedLiam NeesonSuspecting her husband of infidelity, gynecologist Dr. Catherine Stewart hires an escort named Chloe in order to test his faithfulness. Soon, the relationships between all three intensify.Another cheat, I know; the three main leads (Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and the fantastic Amanda Seyfried in the title role) are not Canadian. But Atom Egoyan is, and he somehow manages to make Toronto a star of the film. Thoroughly sexy, and featuring some great Canadian music by a band called Raised By Swans, which serves to add to the steamy, dreamy atmosphere.
- DirectorDavid WeaverStarsJoel BissonnetteLindy BoothAlbert ChungAn omnibus of seven stories, all set in the room 720 of Century Hotel, that illustrate the tense and changing nature of relationships between men and women during each of the seven decades between the 1920s and the 1990s.A marvellous ensemble cast and a once-beautiful old Toronto hotel make this set of short stories a can't-miss movie. The people who help tell the story of one hotel room over a hundred years run the gamut, from Colm Feore, Lindy Booth, Mia Kirshner, Tom McCamus and David Hewlett to the likes of Canadian super-couple Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) and Chantal Kreviazuk. The latter pair also lend their voices to the soundtrack.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsJulie ChristieMichael MurphyGordon PinsentA man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.Sarah Polley makes the jump from actress to director with incredible grace and skill here. Julie Christie (not Canadian - cheat!) was deservedly nominated for an Oscar in her role; Gordon Pinsent (Canadian!) ought to have gotten a nod as well. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking love story that needs to be seen.
- DirectorReg HarkemaStarsDon McKellarTracy WrightNadia LitzTwo stoners find a new marijuana dealer when the law catches up to their supplier.Largely a three-person play on screen, this movie set in Toronto is given wings by its real life couple, Don McKellar and the late Tracy Wright, who careen brilliantly from funny to scarily intense and back again. Underrated, by far. You may be tempted to spark up as you watch.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsDevon BostickRachel BlanchardLouca TassoneFor his French-class assignment, a high school student weaves his family history in a news story involving terrorism, and goes on to invite an Internet audience in on the resulting controversy.Expertly guided by Atom Egoyan are his then-wife, Arsinée Khanjian, and underrated Canadian actor Scott Speedman, in this tale that takes its sweet time to unfold, but gives us plenty to think about and drink in while it does so. (Keep an ear out for the debut of the aforementioned Raised By Swans, too. It was during this film that Egoyan decided he wanted to use the band in his next film, "Chloe.")
- DirectorMichael McGowanStarsJoshua JacksonPeter SpenceMarc StrangeChronicles the motorcycle trip of Ben Tyler as he rides from Toronto to Tofino, British Columbia. Ben stops at landmarks that are both iconic and idiosyncratic on his quest to find meaning in his life.Our hometown hero, Joshua Jackson, singlehandedly carries this tragic yet uplifting movie on his leather-clad back. His cross-country journey affords a breathtaking view of nearly every corner of this beautiful country, which should have gotten top billing alongside Joshua! Look for some great Canuck cameos as the trip moves forward, too.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJude LawJennifer Jason LeighIan HolmA game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.Definite cheat here, in that Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh are (technically) the two main stars in Cronenberg's freaky exploration of virtual reality. But once you see it, you'll understand why the appearances throughout by some of Canada's greatest talents (many of whom have already appeared on this list) - Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Callum Keith Rennie and others - are so vital to the story! It was also wholly filmed in Ontario.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsKevin BaconColin FirthAlison LohmanKaren O'Connor, a young journalist known for her celebrity profiles, is consumed with discovering the truth behind a long-buried incident that affected the lives and careers of showbiz team Vince Collins and Lanny Morris.I'm taking liberties here, citing a movie starring two Americans (Kevin Bacon, Alison Lohman) and a Brit (Colin Firth), but the supporting cast of Rachel Blanchard, Maury Chaykin, Don McKellar, Arsinée Khanjian, Sonja Bennett and many others, along with the surprising amount of shooting done in Canada (despite being set mainly in Los Angeles) and the uber-Canadian director (Atom Egoyan again) balance it out, right? Besides, it's a fantastic noirish thriller with a few shocking twists just begging to be seen. There's a reason the MPAA wanted to rate this NC-17... ;)
- DirectorDaniel MacIvorStarsRebecca JenkinsDaniel MacIvorMaury ChaykinThe film intercuts between two days, two years apart. The first: a flight from Vancouver to Halifax, where Charlotte and Cecil, two strangers, meet in seats 3a & 3c and fall in love. The second: a Saturday two years later, where Charlotte and Cecil now a couple, fight, break-up and finally reunite.This is a quiet little film about love, at its beginning and at its end, both told and acted by one of Canada's greatest storytellers, Daniel MacIvor. He and Rebecca Jenkins, over the course of a flight between Vancouver and Halifax (with flash-forwards, of course), manage to get their love story under the viewer's skin, and you can't help but care enough to stick around and find out just how they went from head over heels to heartbroken.
- DirectorBruce McDonaldStarsTracy WrightMolly ParkerDaniel MacIvorTen years after ending their partnership as rock musicians, two women become re-acquainted in the course of one night.Tracy Wright was already sick when production on this film began; that adds a whole new layer to what was already a remarkable drama about a pair of ex-rocker chicks (Wright and the lovely Molly Parker) who come together in Toronto to revisit their crazy past for one night only. Lovingly written by Daniel MacIvor and directed by Bruce MacDonald, with fantastic cameos by Tracy's husband Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie (reprising his role as Billy Tallent from "Hard Core Logo"), Sarah Polley, Caroline Gillis and writer MacIvor, the film puts a wonderful exclamation point at the end of Tracy's career and, ultimately, her life. That it would have been just as poignant a film were she still here speaks volumes about all who are involved.
- DirectorLynne StopkewichStarsMolly ParkerPeter OuterbridgeJay BrazeauOver the years, a child's romantic ideals about death blossom into necrophilia, the study of embalming and the most profound relationship of her life.This was my introduction to Molly Parker...and what an intro it was. While the subject matter (necrophilia? Really??) might seem off-putting at first, be prepared to be surprised at how very much this is a love story, made more than palatable - and in fact quite believable - through Molly's extraordinary performance.
- DirectorDon McKellarStarsDon McKellarPeter PaigeGil BellowsAn experimental filmmaker takes a job as a driver for a foul-mouthed child actor and his ambitious stage mother.Another clever piece of cinema brought to us by the hands of Don McKellar, who wrote, directed and starred alongside the ultimate in bratty Hollywood kid characters. Sharp and funny, it's a well-done satirical piece as well as a straightforward entertaining film. Loads of familiar Canadian faces - Gil Bellows, Alan Thicke, Dave Foley, Tracy Wright - pop up throughout the movie-within-a-movie, ensuring there's never a dull moment.
- DirectorMarc EvansStarsAlan RickmanSigourney WeaverCarrie-Anne MossA drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.Although marketed as a vehicle for Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, one could make a very persuasive argument that this is truly Carrie-Anne Moss's movie. She is affectionately directed here in small-town Ontario, sharing the screen once more with Callum Keith Rennie (who starred as her nasty boyfriend in "Memento" several years earlier), and the combination of every element makes this a very sweet, effective film.
- DirectorSook-Yin LeeSudz SutherlandDavid WeaverStarsGil BellowsSook-Yin LeeK.C. CollinsVarious lives intersect over the course of 48 hours in Canada's largest and most culturally diverse city.Something of a love letter to the city, featuring a varied cast that would be familiar to many of us who've watched Canadian TV or film over the years (the insanely gorgeous Lisa Ray, the guy who made it big - Gil Bellows - in "Ally McBeal," and remember Sook-Yin Lee from her MuchMusic years?).
- DirectorLynne StopkewichStarsMolly ParkerCallum Keith RennieKatie KeatingA young married woman (Parker) sells her body, not just for money, to guests at the motel where she works as a receptionist.To say this is a deeply sexy film might be...a bit warped. But I challenge you to tear your eyes away from the smoldering chemistry (however unhealthy) between Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie, in this envelope-pushing film about a motel in the middle of nowhere (presumably Suspicious River, in the deep woods of British Columbia). Boldly helmed by Montreal director Lynne Stopkewich, this one needs to be seen to be...understood. (A dear friend of mine read my blurb and strongly suggested I added a clearer warning re: just how dark the material gets; she rightly referred to the film as a "gloom inducer," so take that under advisement!)
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsArsinée KhanjianAshot AdamyanAtom EgoyanA woman stays in Armenia after her photographer husband completes his assignment and returns home to Canada.Probably one of Atom Egoyan's more overlooked works, this quietly moving film sucks you into the story of a man's dissolving marriage (played convincingly by Egoyan himself and real-life partner at the time, Arsinée Khanjian) and leaves you thinking about them long after the credits have rolled. Shot in both Canada and Armenia, the darks and lights are made brilliantly obvious in every shade through Atom's lens. It took me years to finally get around to seeing this; don't wait as long as I did.
- DirectorDaniel MacIvorStarsJames AllodiCallum Keith RennieElliot PageA day-in-the-life dark comedy concerning a group of islanders, their respective secrets, and one man's plan to kill himself quietly.Fans of "due South" will be in heaven watching this film, as it stars both Paul Gross and Callum Keith Rennie, alongside a bevy of other enormously talented Canadian stars (Sandra Oh, Ellen Page, Maury Chaykin, countless others) living the sometimes cloying small-town life in a picturesque east coast village called Wilby. Every single performance is note-perfect, and if you aren't either smiling or dabbing at your eyes by the end, you have no soul.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsElliot PageMichael CeraJennifer GarnerFaced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes a selfless decision regarding the unborn child.Aside from being a critical darling and a huge box office hit, this film is very Canadian. Ellen Page and Michael Cera represent the home-country crowd, and filming took place in B.C. under the watchful eye of great Canadian director Jason Reitman. Chances are you've already seen this one - who hasn't?? - but on the off chance that I'm wrong, go rent it. Or buy it. Like, right now, home-skillet.