Year of the Carnivore

I attended the World Premiere of "Year of the Carnivore" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. This deliciously decadent work can be described as "Juno" meets "Shortbus," although it's certainly not as explicit. Director Sook-Yin Lee was one of the stars of that latter film and is somewhat of an icon in her native Canada. The film rests on the capable shoulders of lead actress Cristin Milioti, a relative unknown, and her co-star Mark Rendall, a terrific budding character actor who has been in several of my favorite festival films of the past few years.

What do we really know about sex, when do we learn it, and how do we learn it? That sums up "Year of the Carnivore" and, as Ms. Lee explained eloquently in the Q&A, are questions she still asks herself. It's a quirky love story which is surely, more than anything, a showcase for the broad talents of Sook-Yin Lee, who wrote the script, directed, and composed much of the soundtrack's music.