I USED TO BE FUNNY
Director:
Ally Pankiw
2023
|
105 mins
|
Awards
2023 SXSW Film Festival
2023 Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival
2023 MIFF
2023. Vancouver International Film Festival
2023 Adelaide Film Festival
"Sennott is perfectly cast, portraying Sam as simultaneously lifeless and hilarious with her default blasé attitude and dry-wit humor."
- Little White Lies
“This film manages to be genuinely funny while simultaneously confronting hard-hitting subjects that are no laughing matter, fully and appropriately confident in the exceptionally delicate balance it manages to achieve.”
- Awards Watch
Writer-director Ally Pankiw, known for her previous works, including the TV series FEEL GOOD (2020), THE GREAT (2021), and BLACK MIRROR (2023), was named one of Hollywood Reporter’s “Top 15 Canadian Talents to Watch." In her directorial debut feature starring rising star Rachel Sennott (BOTTOMS, 2023; SHIVA BABY, 2020), is a dark dramedy that's both funny and heartbreaking in its honest and refreshing look at trauma and recovery, and how they affect the relationships and communities that shape us.
Sam Cowell (Rachel Sennott), an aspiring stand-up comedian and au pair struggling with PTSD, as she decides whether or not to join the search for Brooke (Olga Petsa), a missing teenage girl she used to nanny. The narrative unfolds in two timelines: the present, where Sam struggles to heal from her trauma and return to the spotlight, and the past, where memories of Brooke's abrupt disappearance weigh heavily on her, becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss.