‘Mile End Kicks’ Trailer: Barbie Ferreira Takes a Wonderfully Relatable Trip Back to the Early Aughts
This is the good stuff, folks. Too often in this job, we are treated to wonderfully fresh, funny, heartfelt films and then have to, well, just sort of sit on our sterling recommendations until they are released to mass audiences. Such is often the case at festivals, where endless new films are on offer, and only a few of them ever get anything resembling distribution.
Fortunately, that’s not the case with Chandler Levack‘s winning and wise “Mile End Kicks,” which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (where it was one of my favorites) and will have its U.S. premiere at SXSW later this month. IndieWire contributor Katie Rife likened it to an indie “Almost Famous,” and she’s dead on there.
Per the film‘s official logline, it follows “a 24-year-old music critic [who] gets romantically involved with members of an indie band she decides to publicize, set against Montreal’s indie music scene in 2011.” The film stars Barbie Ferreira, Devon Bostick, Stanley Simons, Juliette Gariépy, and Jay Baruchel.
When I spoke to Levack before the film’s premiere, the Canadian filmmaker (and former music critic!) opened up about her own experiences and how much Ferrerira’s Grace is actually based on her. “I wrote this a decade ago when I was 27, and only maybe three or four years removed from the experiences that I’m talking about in the film,” Levack said. “At that time, I felt like I just kind of had never written anything that actually felt like me. I had made a lot of music videos, and I’d made a short film, but I was like, OK, I’m going to spend a month, and I’m going to write this screenplay.”
She also hailed her actress, who gives a career-defining performance in the charming film. “She is extraordinary, and she really gave her whole heart and soul to the performance,” Levack said. “She learned a Canadian accent with a voice coach! I can’t imagine anyone else doing this part now. Not only is she an incredible romantic heroine, kind of in the tradition of Bridget Jones, she’s so authentic and raw.”
During the course of the film, Grace deals with life, love (including a pair of paramours from the same band), professional disappointments, and the fallout of a horrible experience from her past. Part rom-com, part coming-of-age tale, the film is bright and funny and sexy and sad, the sort of thing that could only be made by someone who lived through so much of what her heroine encounters. You can get a strong taste of all of that in the film’s first trailer below.
Sumerian Pictures will release “Mile End Kicks” in theaters on Friday, April 17.
