The Waiting Room Review

The Waiting Room is a mature drama from the young filmmakers responsible for 2012’s Krivina. Writer/ director Igor Drljaca reunites with actor Jasmin Geljo in a story loosely based on the Jasmin’s own experiences as a Yugoslavian actor in Toronto.

The film is produced by Albert Shin who directed last year’s well received In Her Place, which Dlijaca produced. While trading off roles as directors and producers, Shin and Dlijaca seemed to have discovered a pretty good formula for contemplative character pieces that draw on stories from their respective Korean and Bosnian backgrounds.

We see Jasmin go through his day to day life auditioning for minor roles, working a day job in construction, interacting with different friends and family, all while longing for his years in pre-war Yugoslavia when he was a respected actor. He performs live shows in drag for fellow ex-pats but their appeal seems to be lost in translation. The Waiting Room is a very quiet film that leaves a lot up to interpretation, unfortunately it ends up being about as exciting as waiting in a room.

This review was originally published as part of our TIFF 2015 coverage.



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