''Sam'' is a Canadian sports drama film, directed by
Yan England
Yan England-Girard (born 9 december 1981) is a Canadian actor, television and radio presenter, screenwriter, film producer and director of short films. From the age of eight, he was known for his role of Einstein in the youth program Watatatow ...
and released in 2021. The film stars
Antoine-Olivier Pilon as Sam, a competitive swimmer who aspires to compete in the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, but who is confronted with a momentous event that forces him to reevaluate his life.
The cast also includes
Mylène Mackay
Mylène Mackay (born 7 July 1987) is a Canadian actress. She received a Canadian Screen Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards for her performance in '' Endorphine''. In 2016, she appeared as Nelly Arcan ...
as Sam's older sister and swim coach Judith, Milya Corbeil-Gauvreau as Océane and
Stéphane Rousseau as Marc, as well as
Pierre-Yves Cardinal
Pierre-Yves Cardinal (born 24 July 1978) is a Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Francis in Xavier Dolan's ''Tom at the Farm'', for which he garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor a ...
, Marie-France Marcotte, Catherine Sénart, Simon-Daniel Boisvert, Julie Beauchemin and
Lévi Doré in supporting roles.
The film premiered on July 26, 2021.
Critical reception
Alex Rose of ''
Cult MTL'' negatively reviewed the film, calling it "a hysterically overwrought drama disguised as a sports film" and comparing it negatively to
Pascal Plante's similarly themed 2020 film ''
Nadia, Butterfly
''Nadia, Butterfly'' is a 2020 Canadian sports drama film, directed by Pascal Plante and released in 2020.
The film stars Katerine Savard as Nadia, an Olympic swimmer struggling to redefine her life after retiring from the sport at the conclus ...
''.
[Alex Rose]
"Quebec Olympics drama Sam is a dated weepie posing as a sports film"
'' Cult MTL'', July 27, 2021. He wrote that "''Sam''’s distributor has asked the press not to reveal any spoilers about the film, which makes discussing it nearly impossible; suffice to say that ''Sam'' is the kind of film where you see preposterous twists and coincidences coming early on and hope against all hope that your predictions don’t come true. Reader: they all did."
[
Felix Lajoie from le Soleil gave it four starts. "In the long run, the intrigue flows into a frantic rhythm. No pause to fall asleep with endless dialogues. Yan England (1:54) said he wanted to produce a story that keeps the spectator on the end of his seat. We can say that it is successful."]
References
2021 films
2021 drama films
2020s sports drama films
Canadian sports drama films
Films shot in Quebec
Films set in Quebec
Films about Olympic swimming and diving
Films directed by Yan England
2020s French-language films
French-language Canadian films
2020s Canadian films
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