COVID-19 Archives - That Shelf

Touch Review: COVID-Era Period Dramas Are Now on the Menu

by Pat Mullen | July 11, 2024

Baltasar Kormákur's drama Touch offers a warm embrace that's weirdly wrapped in the trappings of a COVID-19 era period drama.

TIFF 2023: Dumb Money Review

by Pat Mullen | September 8, 2023

Dumb Money, the story of the GameStop stock short and the Redditers who bet big against Wall Street, is a hugely entertaining movie of the moment.

Kingston Canadian Film Festival Review: Stéphane Lafleur’s VIKING Probes the Human Condition

by Jason Gorber | March 5, 2023

We review a real joy of a discovery in Stéphane Lafleur's darkly comic sci-film film Viking.

Interview: Jeremy LaLonde on Ashgrove and Failing

by Rachel Ho | December 3, 2022

Jeremy LaLonde spoke with That Shelf about the challenges in making Ashgrove, casting Amanda Brugel, and how the pandemic affected his story.

TIFF 2022: Viking Review

by Pat Mullen | September 11, 2022

Stéphane Lafleur's Viking is a wry, observant, and truly grounded space comedy.

Sundance 2022: The Panola Project Review

by Rachel Ho | February 7, 2022

The pandemic has been exhausting for everyone. In the last two years, not a day has gone by without a reminder of how the world has been crippled by this virus. This is why films like The Panola Project are necessary.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Review: Part Satire, Part Nonsense

by Kevin L. Lee | October 16, 2021

This year's Golden Bear winner captures an angry, frustrated mindset that has plagued all of us since this pandemic started.

TIFF 2021: Silent Night Review

by Rachel Ho | September 18, 2021

Silent Night uses gallows humour and an emotional heart to create a well-rounded British dark comedy that's unfortunately overshadowed by our current reality.

The Criterion Shelf: Close To Home

by Bil Antoniou | May 22, 2021

Bil Antoniou surveys a collection of "home movies" that cater to quarantine life blahs.

Sundance 2021: In the Same Breath Review

by Manuel Betancourt | January 29, 2021

Nanfu Wang chronicles both China’s and the U.S.’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and tells a story of twinned reactions of culturally-specific governmental failures.

Songbird Review: It’s Not ‘Too Soon’, It’s ‘Too Bad’

by Rachel West | December 13, 2020

Songbird holds the distinction of being the first movie to film in Los Angeles since the 2020 pandemic shutdown. It also has the distinction of being one of the most misguided and tone-deaf movies of the year.