Following the lives of five young musicians moving away from their small town to the big city of Toronto in an attempt to make it big, We Forgot to Break Up depicts the trials and triumphs of friendship, romance, and the diverse perspective of being queer in the late 1990s. The film’s protagonist Evan, a trans man struggling with his self-discovery, is the focal point of the ups and downs that transcend while balancing personal growth and the effects that has on the people who support you.
Pieced together through pockets of time, the film can create an emotional connection to each of the characters, all still trying to find their place within the context of their new surroundings and the quick take-off of their band, ‘The New Normals’. What comes from it is a beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking showing of how fame and identity can sometimes co-exist due to the outstanding pressures of trying to make it in a world not yet equipped to handle queerness and the many facets it can show itself to be.
As a young queer individual myself, I found this film to speak to the nuanced understanding of how the pressures from society to be something you aren’t can change how you show yourself to the world. All five characters struggle with finding their place not only within the band but within the world they have to fight against to have a chance to succeed. Director Karen Knox has been able to create a piece that I believe many young queer individuals will be able to see themselves within. This film shows that growing up is a constant struggle between who you truly are, and who you want to become.
- Rated: NR
- Genre: Drama
- Release Date: 6/1/2024
- Directed by: Karen Knox
- Starring: Daniel Gravelle, Hallea Jones, Jade Hassouné, Jordan Dawson, June Laporte, Lane Webber, Nicolette Pearse
- Produced by: Nicole Hilliard-Forde
- Written by: Noel S Baker, Pat Mills, Zoe Whittall
- Studio: Motel Pictures
