Whether you’re planning a cozy night in with your partner or treating yourself to some quality self-care time, we’ve curated a special “what to watch” list of classic productions and new favourites, made by and with the help of DGC Ontario Members. From dramatic love stories to diverse depictions of love and identity, join us in celebrating romance in all its forms this Valentine’s Day.
Where to watch: In select theatres now
DGC Ontario Director Sherren Lee’s debut feature film stars Andrea Bang as Waverly, a young woman who has a difficult relationship with her parents. Waverly decides to spend the summer before starting university with her aunt in the coastal beach town of Tofino, British Columbia, where she is drawn into a romance with lifeguard Blake when he gives her swimming lessons. The film was written by Sherren Lee and Jesse LaVercombe, as an adaptation of a Wattpad story by writer Kate Marchant.
Where to watch: Netflix, CBC Gem
When Margot meets Daniel, their chemistry is intense and immediate. But Margot suppresses her sudden attraction; she is happily married to Lou, a cookbook writer. When she learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint. Take This Waltz, written and directed by Oscar-winning DGC Ontario Member Sarah Polley, explores the familiar but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves.
Where to watch: In select theatres now
When 16-year-old Lindy is diagnosed with a reproductive condition, MRKH syndrome, the diagnosis upsets her understanding of womanhood and sexual identity and throws her relationships with her boyfriend, her friends, and her mother into disarray. When Lindy enters into a new relationship with Jax, a self-assured transmasculine intersex student, she begins to discover what it means to celebrate different kinds of sex, love, and bodies. Check out our interview with the creative team of Fitting In: Director Molly McGlynn, Picture Editor Maureen Grant, Production Designer Thea Hollatz, and Director of Photography Nina Djacic.
Stay the Night
Where to watch: AppleTV+
Directed by DGC Ontario’s Renuka Jeyapalan, Stay the Night follows a single evening in the lives of two lonely young people seeking connection in the city. When reserved and very single Grace meets Carter Stone, a professional athlete on the outs, she wonders if maybe Carter is the perfect solution to her problem. After their first attempt at a one-night stand goes awry, they spend the evening walking and talking through the streets of Toronto, leading them to a connection neither of them expected.
Where to watch: Netflix, CBC Gem
Rahul Seeth is an Indian-Canadian dotcom millionaire facing pressure from his traditionalist mother to get married. When he meets the beautiful Spanish escort Sue, he convinces her to pretend to be his Indian fiance – until he discovers she actually is Indian. Bollywood/Hollywood is DGC Ontario Director Deepa Mehta’s love letter to the over-the-top style of Bollywood musicals, featuring family melodrama and choreographed dance numbers, set against the backdrop of Toronto.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
Hello (Again), created by Nathalie Younglai and Simu Liu, follows the complicated romance between chef Jayden and ER resident Avery. Six months after their breakup, Jayden is mysteriously sent back in time to the day he and Avery met, giving him a chance to fix his past mistakes.
Where to watch: Netflix
English med school dropout Wallace, working a dead-end job in Toronto, is burned out from a string of failed relationships. After meeting at a party, he forms an instant bond with Chantry, who lives with her longtime boyfriend. Together, they puzzle out what it means if your best friend is also the love of your life. This film, directed by Michael Dowse, features an ensemble cast that includes Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, and Mackenzie Davis.
Where to watch: AppleTV
For those who enjoy the weirder side of romance, David Cronenberg’s Crash, based on the novel by J.D. Ballard, centres around James and Catherine, a couple in a dispassionate open marriage who rekindle their sex life after discovering they are both aroused by car crashes. After falling in with a group of misfits who take this particular fetish to dangerous new heights, James and Catherine must decide whether their love life is worth dying for.
Moonstruck
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Hooplah
Directed by the late Norman Jewison, this classic film earned Cher an Oscar for her portrayal of Loretta Casterini, a no-nonsense Italian-American widow in a loveless relationship with her fiance, Johnny. When she meets Johnny’s unhinged brother Ronny (an early-career Nicholas Cage), she finds herself drawn to his animalistic passion despite knowing that getting entangled with her fiance’s brother is a bad idea. But Loretta soon discovers she’s not the only one in her family with a secret affair.
Where to watch: AppleTV
Filmed in the famous Greektown district of The Danforth in Toronto, My Big Fat Greek Wedding follows Toula, a single 30-year-old woman unlucky in love. When she meets and eventually becomes engaged to non-Greek Ian Miller, she struggles to get her enormous traditional Greek family to accept him while she comes to terms with the heritage and cultural identity she’s always resented.
Where to watch: AppleTV
Director V.T. Nayani’s feature debut stars Devery Jacobs and Priya Guns as two young women — one Iranian and Kanien?kehá?ka, the other Tamil — living in Toronto and dealing with difficult family legacies. After an unexpected late-night meeting that sees the two women finding love for the first time, they’re unexpectedly forced to confront their complicated family histories and traumas.
Where to watch: Netflix
Director Thyrone Tommy’s debut full-length feature that also landed on TIFF’s Canadian Top Ten for 2021, Learn to Swim centres on a stormy romantic relationship between Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and Selma (Emma Ferreira), two talented but troubled jazz musicians trying to make it big.
Read our interview with Learn to Swim Director Thyrone Tommy on the making of this Toronto-centric jazz love story.
