“A fully engaging and fast-paced film that impresses in both its characters and plot development, while never losing the energy that makes it so enjoyable to watch.”

Playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival in the Centrepiece section is the second feature film from Québécois director Rémi St-Michel, following his 2019 film Before We Explode. Set in Québec City, the film focuses on a teenager who gets himself involved in a series of increasingly dangerous robberies. St-Michel tells the story with energy and explosiveness, making for a refreshingly fun and entertaining time at the cinema.

The film follows fifteen-year-old Félix (Félix Munger), who, when his friends leave him for the night after his birthday celebration, begins to make a series of wrong decisions. As a prank, he holds up a convenience store, but only with his hand shaped like a gun inside his jacket pocket. He takes the money and uses it to buy drinks for an entire bar, but because of his age he is not allowed to stay inside. While moping outside, he meets the much older gangster Dave (David Beaudoin), and the two begin working together to rob local banks. Along the way, they bring in Sara (Sara Montpetit), a young drug addict who becomes involved in their plans. What begins almost as a stupid, childish attempt to impress his friends quickly turns into something much more dangerous, as Félix finds himself surrounded by people and circumstances that unravel out of his control.

These three central characters wouldn’t normally seem like they would connect or work together. Félix is a schlubby fifteen-year-old who is impulsive and sometimes rash, but he is also intelligent and capable of carefully planning the robberies. Dave is twice his age, with a well-defined, muscular, tattooed body. He comes off as cool and confident, but often makes poor decisions of his own. Sara, young like Félix, doesn’t seem like she belongs with either of them, but she is gradually pulled into their plans by Dave. Their differences are part of what makes the trio so entertaining to watch, as none of them really seems equipped to handle the situation they have created for themselves. There is also an imbalance between them, particularly because Félix is still a teenager while Dave is an adult with a partner and child and already has years of experience. Félix may be the least experienced of the three, but he is often the one who seems to think most clearly about what they are doing. 

The trio is successful at first, but they attract the wrong kind of attention when they show off their newfound cash at a strip club. Of course, they don’t make the smart decision to play it cool and lay low. They end up getting robbed and are eventually roped into doing work for the strip club’s boss, who is much more interested in drug trafficking and other criminal activities. They can’t seem to get out, even after robbing banks for a decent amount of money. What begins as something that feels like an adventure for Félix gradually becomes much more serious, and things start to go downhill. St-Michel lets the consequences build without losing the sense of unpredictability that comes from the trio’s bad decisions. 

Félix is forced to grow up fast, and his character develops quickly throughout the film. A newfound sense of maturity begins to hit him, compared to early in the film when he still acted like a bratty child. He starts to miss his high school friends, particularly Brandon, played by the wonderful Brandon Truong. He begins to understand that the life he has gotten himself into is not exactly what he wanted, even though it provided him with responsibility, friendship, and a sense of purpose.

Despite what seems like a shadowy film about the criminal underbelly of Québec, Toy Gun Bandit is surprisingly energetic and comedic. It never really comes off as a dark film, but instead as one filled with warmth and optimism. St-Michel’s filmmaking style helps support this, as his camera is constantly moving and the frames rarely linger on a moment for too long. There is a real lived-in authenticity to this world, which lends credence to both its believability and likeability. Even as the story becomes more dangerous, the film never loses its sense of fun.

For many reasons, Toy Gun Bandit is a major success. It’s a fully engaging and fast-paced film that impresses in both its characters and plot development, while never losing the energy that makes it so enjoyable to watch. St-Michel has created a movie that can be somewhat dark and chaotic without being grim, and the relationships among these three unlikely criminals give the film much of its charm. It also marks St-Michel as a major new voice in cinema, a voice that will hopefully transcend the language boundaries and allow his work to be seen by more non-French speaking audiences.