Latest Egoyan film a reminder of the writer/director’s talent

Gossip just one of a number of themes explored in Adoration

Rachel Blanchard and Noam Jenkins in a scene from Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s Adoration.

Adoration, the latest film from Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), works to bring into the digital age the proverbial notion of returning squeezed toothpaste to its tube.

However, to boil this movie down to a morality lesson on gossip would be an injustice to a film that earnestly and ambitiously pursues a number of themes important to an increasingly digitized, globalized and minimized society.

One day, Simon (Devon Bostick) sits in class listening to an article about a thwarted terrorist attack in the early ‘80s involving a pregnant woman whose lover packed her bag full explosives before she boarded a plane.

He begins to rewrite the story, imagining himself as the unborn child reflecting back on the actions of his would-be parents.

At the urging of his over-anxious teacher (Arsinée Khanjian), Simon expands the story and begins to pass it off as his actual history both at school and on the Internet. Before Simon knows it, his chat room full of friends has expanded considerably as people from all over the world demand his attention.

Egoyan chooses to develop his film using a non-linear structure, rarely revealing more information than absolutely necessary. This forces the audience to repeatedly decipher character relations and motivations, as well as cast numerous judgements, which are later shattered.
Throughout the movie, Egoyan is also messing with perceived reality as he explores how easily one person can warp what is held as communal truth, especially on the Internet.

One image the film returns to often is the site of numerous video chatters sprawled across Simon’s computer screen, each vying to have their voice heard as they discuss terrorism. Can-lit fans should keep an eye out for a cameo by Margaret Atwood during these scenes.
The film isn’t without its faults. Egoyan spreads his thematic motifs a little thin at points, presenting far more ideas than he has time to fully explore.

Also, his frequent chat room scenes edge on overly-contrived –  – although one can imagine discussions of this nature being filled with characters as adamant and obsessive as the ones presented here.

Even though the film doesn’t reach the heights of Egoyan’s masterpiece The Sweet Hereafter, it does stand as an excellent reminder of the considerable cinematic talent this country possesses.

Published in Volume 64, Number 1 of The Uniter (September 3, 2009)

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