{"id":3936,"date":"2022-01-07T10:12:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T15:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/areathirtythree.com\/blog\/?p=3936"},"modified":"2026-03-28T20:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T00:06:00","slug":"signs-signals-and-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/areathirtythree.com\/blog\/signs-signals-and-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs, Signals, and Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

KINGSWAY – written and directed by Bruce Sweeney – SPOILERS<\/h4>\n
\"Agam<\/a>

Jessica<\/strong> and Megan<\/strong> flirt at work<\/p><\/div>\n

Matt Horvat<\/strong> (Jeff Gladstone<\/a>) , who is a Semiotics Professor and has a history of anxiety and depression, tells his therapist (Sara<\/strong>, played by Jennifer McLean<\/a>) that his life has “never been better” and he thinks he doesn’t need to see her anymore. After he leaves, he stops for a chicken sandwich and spots his wife’s motorcycle parked at a motel. (The motel involved is the 2400 Motel<\/a> on The Kingsway in Vancouver, hence the film’s title. Church’s Chicken, which is now Church’s Texas Chicken<\/a>, is right across the street.) He phones his sister Jess<\/strong> (Camille Sullivan<\/a>), tells her what’s happening, and asks her not to tell their mother. She agrees, then immediately puts him on speaker, which illustrates his relationship with his family pretty well. <\/p>\n

\"Lori<\/a>

Lori<\/strong> (Colleen Rennison<\/a>) and her mother Carol<\/strong> (Jillian Fargey) in combative mode, about to have a confrontation with the Horvats<\/p><\/div>\n

KINGSWAY is an intelligent, charming, and very enjoyable film, but it has some quirks to puzzle over. We see Matt’s wife Lori<\/strong> (Colleen Rennison<\/a>) being a singer, and we see Jessica work on cars, but we never see Matt being a Professor. Marion has a habit of cussing in Hungarian. (We get no translation.) Also the UFC<\/a> (of all things) is referenced twice, first by Sean and again later by Jess (in entirely different contexts). <\/p>\n

The film was made in 2018 (pre-Covid) and one cannot help but wonder how much more terrible the Horvat family’s situation would be were they forced to quarantine together. <\/p>\n

Behind the opening scenes the appropriately titled song “Swooner” by The Zolas<\/a> is playing. The soundtrack to this movie is exceptional, and there is a playlist of songs heard in the film at the end of this post. The two songs at the end of the film were composed and sung by cast members, including Rennison (who is the lead singer for No Sinner<\/em><\/a>) and have apparently not been recorded. The post-punk trio who did “Boredom is Beauty<\/a>” was called Sorry Edith<\/em> at the time of the film’s release, but they have since renamed themselves Land Line<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Jillian<\/a>

Lori’s mom Carol<\/strong>, Matt’s mom Marion<\/strong>, and his sister Jess<\/strong> watch Lori and her band perform.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jess is perpetually giving Matt advice and when he takes her advice she attacks him for not implementing it correctly. This is a trait she obviously gets from their mother Marion<\/strong> (Gabrielle Rose), but Jess turns the pattern into an art form. Her co-worker Megan<\/strong> (Agam Darshi<\/a>) has a serious crush on her (Jess is an auto mechanic), and the two of them do get together (after Matt points out – in self defense – that his sister hasn’t had a relationship in this century). The scenes with Jess and Megan at their place of work are really the best part of this (most notably the one involving a customer (Raphael Kepinski) complaining about his bill). When they finally get together outside of work, Megan gets the movie’s best line<\/strong>. Dealing with Jess’s reluctance to get involved with a co-worker, Megan solves the problem nicely. “Look,”<\/em> she says “is this one of those like ‘don’t shit where you eat’ stories? Well, I’m leaving at the end of the month.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Camille<\/a>

Jess<\/strong> and Matt<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

A short way into the story, Lori reveals that she is pregnant. Nobody but Matt wants her to have the kid, but despite that, Lori uses some questionable reasoning to determine that the child is not Matt’s. (It is because the fetus is not conveying any of Matt’s neuroses to her.) She tells her husband about her affair with his best friend Sean<\/strong> (Paul Skrudland) and that she believes Sean is the father. The truth of that is never quite resolved, because when Lori begins to share some of Matt’s anxieties and moods she switches beliefs and says that the child is Matt’s, the point perhaps being that the identity of the actual DNA contributor is irrelevant to Lori’s immediate situation. <\/p>\n

Agam Darshi, Colleen Rennison, and Gabrielle Rose were all nominated for Leo Awards<\/a> (2019) for their roles in this. Bruce Sweeney won the Leo for Best Screenplay, and Rennison won the 2019 UBCP\/ACTRA Award<\/a> for Best Actress. <\/p>\n

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KINGSWAY<\/a> can be streamed on TUBI<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n
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PLAYLIST<\/h5>\n