Canadian films about personal growth

In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting race through the Forbidden Forest leading to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history.

A stuffy businessman finds himself trapped inside the body of his family's cat.

The mid-70's: A timid young New Yorker leads an uneventful life until he is fatefully exposed to the pulsating rhythms of a brand-new genre of music....disco. Unable to control his murderous impulses that stem from a traumatic childhood experience, Duane Lewis transforms into a dangerous serial killer exiled to Montreal.

Wrongly condemned for killing his wife, a man finds himself in a mysterious institution where he is sentenced to relive her death for eternity.

Mercenaries with nothing to lose are hired to rescue a bioengineer imprisoned in a cold war bunker. Upon entering the ominous facility, they find themselves in a fight for their lives when they come under attack from an unknown and deadly creature.

In the harsh, wintry woods of rural Quebec, Bruce (Thomas Haden Church), a down-on-his-luck snowplow operator, accidentally kills a man during a drunken night joyride. Stricken with panic, he hides the body and takes to the deep wilderness in hopes of outrunning both the authorities and his own conscience. But as both begin to close in, Bruce falls apart mentally and morally and mysteries unravel to reveal who he was before the accident, the truth behind his victim, and the circumstances that brought them together in a single moment.

The film follows a man with an unwanted gift for healing who meets a teenager with cancer who helps him to find himself.

Canada, the summer of 1898. A group of German settlers travel towards the far north in covered wagons with packhorses and their few possessions in tow. The seven travellers set off from Ashcroft, the final railway station. Along with their leader, flamboyant businessman Wilhelm Laser, they are hoping to find their fortune in the recently discovered goldfields of Dawson, but they have no idea of the stresses and dangers which lie ahead on their 2,500 kilometre journey. Before long uncertainty, cold weather and exhaustion begin to take their toll and conflicts escalate. The journey leads these men and women deeper and deeper into a menacing wilderness. (Berlinale.de)

The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.

Celebrated European actor Sophie Bernard is in Montreal shooting a movie, and she's taking the opportunity to visit her gay son Thomas in the hope of bridging the rift that's grown between them. But Thomas has his own agenda for their time together; he intends to finally get some answers as to the identity of his father. Meanwhile, at Ville-Marie Hospital, paramedic Pierre struggles with PTSD, and though he has support in Marie, a nurse who keeps the overflowing emergency room running, it's uncertain whether he'll remain able to cope with the high intensity of his work. Each of these four characters is dealing with emotional damage — and on one dark Montreal night, their lives will all intersect in a fateful occurrence at Ville-Marie.

An elderly couple fight against local authorities in rural New Brunswick to build their final home.

A teen faces a night of terror when three malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door.

When two friends open a Halloween fun house on Devil's Night it is all fun and games until their former sorority sisters begin to arrive. These six sisters are confronted by their past as the night spins out of control.

A young married woman from Montreal's Orthodox Jewish community finds freedom from the strictures of her faith through her relationship with a young man who is mourning the death of his estranged father.

Wallace, a medical school dropout, has been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan, seems to be finding the perfect partner, Wallace decides to put his love life on hold. It is then that he meets Chantry, an animator who lives with her long term boyfriend Ben. Wallace and Chantry form an instant connection, striking up a close friendship. But there is no denying the chemistry between them, leading the pair to wonder: what if the love of your life is actually your best friend?

Crunch Calhoun, a third-rate motorcycle daredevil and part-time art thief, teams up with his snaky brother to steal one of the most valuable books in the world. But it's not just about the book for Crunch — he's keen to rewrite some chapters of his own past as well.

When teenager Cami Winters falls in love, she falls hard. Her single mother, Tori, has no idea that Cami has fallen in love with a boy named 'Jake' she met on a social networking website. Although Cami believes Jake's a 23 year-old college student, everything he's told her online is a lie.

Based on a real WWII vet and family man turned bank robber. Disillusioned by his post war circumstances, Eddie Boyd is torn between the need to provide for his young family and an unfulfilled dream to head to Hollywood to become a star. He discovers a way to do both, robbing banks Hollywood style, but his dream leads him down a path of danger and tragedy.

This is a film about a troubled teen, Sean Randall, who is falsely accused of planning a Columbine shooting scenario. It all begins when an unlikely bond forms between Sean (Connor Jessup) and a preppy teenage girl named Deanna Roy (Alexia Fast). Deanna's boyfriend is deeply threatened by Sean and Deanna's friendship, resulting in a violent confrontation. Seeking to protect himself, Sean issues a death threat online - and is swiftly arrested. When the police raid Sean's home, they find rifles, shotguns, knives and ammunition - all property of Sean's father Ricky (Michael Buie), an avid hunter. They also find a supposed "hit list" with twenty names of people who have tormented Sean. The authorities and the media proclaim another Columbine has been narrowly averted, and soon Sean faces a terrifying imprisonment in a youth detention facility. Sean's only hope is to overcome his dark image, and prove his innocence to Deanna and to his community.

When two youngsters meet and fall for each other, they must go on the run from the girl's corrupt father, who is also the sheriff of the town.

Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis falls in love with a fishmonger while working for him as a live-in housekeeper.

A group of archaeologists uncover a strange structure in Northern Canada, dating over ten thousand years before the present. The team finds themselves isolated when their communication systems fail and it's not long before they begin to feel the effects of the solitude.

Twenty-eight-year-old Margot is happily married to Lou, a good-natured cookbook author. But when Margot meets Daniel, a handsome artist who lives across the street, their mutual attraction is undeniable.

Three young Inuits set off in search of a promised land to save their clan from starvation.

The estranged daughter (Lauren Lee Smith) of a recently deceased filmmaker gains a new understanding of her father when she offers to create a retrospective of his work.

In northern Canada, a young boy sets a goal for himself to to reunite an abandoned polar bear cub with its mother. Goran Visnjic joins the cast as Muktuk, a half Inuit and half Canadian, who knows the terrain where the polar bears live and who agrees to help the boy.

A small fishing village must procure a local doctor to secure a lucrative business contract. When unlikely candidate and big city doctor Paul Lewis lands in their lap for a trial residence, the townsfolk rally together to charm him into staying. As the doctor’s time in the village winds to a close, acting mayor Murray French has no choice but to pull out all the stops and begin The Grand Seduction.

This is the story Delphine Lamarre, a young woman trying to focus on the way to dance rather than focused on her university studies. It will pass through trials and consequences facing choices.

Maryse and her husband are desperate to sell a backhoe sitting abandoned in their suburban yard. Her brother, Benoit, is trapped in endless adolescence, sharing their childhood home with their invalid father. Benoit is enamoured with a single mom named Nathalie, and he's hoping to finally grow up by living with her... but Nathalie's son does not approve. A serious accident at the factory where Maryse works, a strange series of coincidences, and the arrival of a Man claiming to come from the future launch Maryse and Benoit on a life-changing road trip. Following up his acclaimed feature film Continental, a film without guns, filmmaker Stephane Lafleur once again brings us an ensemble of compelling characters, in a story where the ordinary and the fantastic collide

Dr. Mary Harris, a single mother and emergency doctor by day, also moonlights as an underground angel of death - helping terminally ill patients who want to die and slip away on their own terms. So far Mary has managed to stay under the radar; but business is booming, and her double life is getting complicated. When her world starts to unravel, Mary realizes she's going to have to fight dirty if she's going to stay in the killing game.

Ex-pro hockey player Matt Shade irrevocably changes his life when he teams up with fierce P.I. Angie Everett to form an unlikely investigative powerhouse.

Fed up with being censored in their post-Trailer Park Boys lives, the out of work stars/world-renowned 'swearists', Mike Smith, Robb Wells and John Paul Tremblay decide to start their own uncensored network on the internet.

The Captains is a feature length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors whom have portrayed Starship captains within the illustrious science-fiction franchise.

When a woman tries to outwit her husband's sexy young mistress, the unexpected consequences include starring as King Lear in a very amateur production - with the mistress, an aspiring actress, playing The Fool.

The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.

A couple of college students decide to sign up for pharmaceutical testing of a new allergy drug to make some extra cash for their spring break trip. They quickly discover their two week stay will not be as easy as they first believed and fight to save themselves from the grips of the facility.

An architect and his wife see their relationship challenged.

Joseph and his family live in the remote wilderness as fur trappers but their tranquility starts to be threatened when they think are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf and Joseph leaves them behind to track it.

A couple on a deep-wilderness hike become hopelessly lost within an aggressive black bear's territory.

In a small Arctic town struggling with the highest suicide rate in North America, a group of Inuit students' lives are transformed when they are introduced to the sport of lacrosse.

An unexpected heroine is plunged into a world of forged identities, corporate intrigue and organized crime.

When his best friend and podcast co-host goes missing in the backwoods of Canada, a young guy joins forces with his friend's girlfriend to search for him.

Eight years after the disappearance of Cassandra, some disturbing incidents seem to indicate that she's still alive. Police, parents and Cassandra herself, will try to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.

During a raging snowstorm, a drifter returns home to the blue-collar bar located in the remote Canadian town where he was born. When he offers to settle an old debt with a grizzled bartender by telling him a story, the night's events quickly spin into a dark tale of mistaken identities, double-crosses and shocking violence.

Summer war games between the neighborhood kids turns deadly serious when jealousy and betrayal enter the mix, in this alternately hilarious and horrifying black comedy that mixes equal parts Lord of the Flies and Roald Dahl.

A small town-teen predicts his friend’s death with startling accuracy and is labelled the “Prophet of Death.” One thing he didn’t see coming? Falling in love - with his best friend’s girl.

Separation opens with an absolutely innocent shot of a young girl riding a bicycle. It isn’t until later in the film that we learn exactly what we were watching. And that is exactly what Separation is all about. This is a film that masterfully uses sleight of hand like a highly-skilled magician to show us one thing while setting up something completely different. And writer/director Greg White brings it all together in a tense film with an exciting climax that pulls back all the curtains.

Newlyweds Sarah and Cory Morgan have decided to take a relaxing holiday with Cory’s 7 year old son Liam to try and smooth over some of the teething problems Liam is having with his new Mom. Despite the idyllic location of Cory’s isolated and luxurious country house, the family soon realize they have made a mistake in going there. Someone has been using the house in their absence. Their unwanted house guests will soon reveal themselves and the family will find itself caught up in a fight for their lives. What was planned as a relaxing getaway quickly turns into their worst nightmare as the family find themselves on a holiday from hell.

A shy high schooler struggles to lose his virginity before the local Satanic cult can sacrifice him to the devil.

This is the portrait of two recently released prisoners (Pierrette Robitaille and Romane Bohringer) who learn to live in a sugar shack deep in the forest.