Along with the lineup of Canadian feature films playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF also announced the lineup of Canada First! films today. These are a selection of seven feature films by first-time Canadian filmmakers. While most of them sound decent, one that stuck out to us most is Simon Davidson’s The Odds; a murder mystery about illegal teenage gambling.
Check out the press release and a couple more images we received from the film below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Kinosmith Inc. is pleased to announce that Simon Davidson’s murder mystery, The Odds, will have its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. Having screened his first three films (shorts Moon in the Afternoon, Sometimes a Voice and What’s up with the Kids?) at the festival, it seems only fitting that Simon’s debut feature film, The Odds, will be seen first by TIFF audiences.
Set in the world of illegal teenage gambling, The Odds follows seventeen year old Desson Orr, played by rising star Tyler Johnston, who must find his best friends’ killer before the game is exposed.
Tyler Johnston, who’s performance in The Odds showcases his undeniable talent, is currently filming the feature Redwood and will reprise his role as the loveable but neurotic Danny Lubbe on the new season of HBO Canada’s Less Than Kind this fall. Tyler also plays the lead in the feature filmPressed, due out in 2011. Other credits for this rising star include guest and recurring roles in Flashpoint, Supernatural and Smallville as well as leading roles in television movies Desperate Hours, Polar Shift and Ogre.
Tyler is accompanied by a strong ensemble of young talent including Julia Maxwell (Hot Tub Time Machine) who plays love interest “Colleen”, Calum Worthy (Daydream Nation) as “Barry”, Desson’s best friend and Jaren Brant Bartlett (The Troop, The Boxer and the Kid) as “Paul”, who runs an illegal gambling club in a suburban basement.
In The Odds, Desson’s (Tyler Johnston) life is thrown into chaos when he finds his best friend (Calum Worthy) dead of an apparent suicide. Compelled to uncover the truth, Desson comes face to face with the dark secrets of his own complicity in Barry’s death. Delving into a dark world cloaked by a middle-class neighbourhood, the film casts an eye on the action surrounding an illegal gambling ring run by teenagers.
Filmmaker Simon Davidson found the inspiration for The Odds when he came across a short news article “about a teenage kid in Singapore who essentially became a bookie for some of his classmates, who would all bet on NBA with him.” Davidson continues, “He had figured out how to use the vig and how to lay off bets and he started making a killing off of his friends. I remember this kid being so unapologetic, he just said, ‘I see it as doing a favour for my friends.’ He also said, ‘I can never lose,’ and he didn’t. The problem was that his friends did, and after a while they were owing him a lot of money. Suddenly this wasn’t a game anymore, he expected to be paid and he wanted all of it.”
TIFF 2011 runs from September 8 – 18. Follow all our coverage of the festival at criticizethis.ca/TIFF2011.
