TORONTO — As a music journalist, Chandler Levack opined about the "sophomore slump" many bands face on their second album. Now, as a filmmaker, she understands why those words strike fear in many creators.
Shortly before her second feature, "Mile End Kicks," makes its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, Levack admits she's a tad jittery.
Her debut film "I Like Movies," was warmly received at the festival three years ago and she wonders if her new semi-autobiographical comedy will live up to expectations.
“It's like I made a cool indie album that broke through and got highly rated on Pitchfork … and now I’m back with a new album,” she says.
“I think I'm worried, are they still gonna like it? Do they think I lost my sound?”
These feelings of trepidation aren't new. Levack felt similarly when "I Like Movies" was on the horizon. The coming-of-age dramedy about a video store clerk ended up being one of the breakout TIFF favourites in 2022, putting Levack on the Canadian moviemaker map.
And so with "Mile End Kicks," she returns to prove she's not just a one-hit wonder. In her new film, the stars are bigger, the swings broader, and the budget is $4 million compared to the $130,000 she said it cost to make "I Like Movies."
"Mile End Kicks" follows Grace Pine, a 24-year-old music critic who abandons Toronto for Montreal where she plans to pen a book about Alanis Morissette's influential "Jagged Little Pill."
Nothing goes quite according to her plan. She falls for the wrong guy, clashes with her roommate and ultimately finds herself in the process, culminating with a final scene that is likely to make audiences squirm and laugh at the same time.
"Euphoria" actress Barbie Ferreira plays Grace with a specificity that brings an endearing quality to each of her personal missteps, while Jay Baruchel stars as the cringeworthy music editor whose moral compass is out of whack.
Levack, 37, wrote the script's first draft a decade ago when memories of working for Spin and the Village Voice were still fresh. At the time, she had titled it "Anglophone," and saw it more as a fish-out-of-water dream project to make when she could secure a bigger budget.
The success of "I Like Movies" helped that money come around. She landed an Ontario-Quebec co-production, which made it possible to shoot in the city where most of the events took place.
Levack said she knew the only way to make "Mile End Kicks" was to centre it in Montreal, where she could authentically recreate the local music scene when it was at its "apex of cool" in the early 2010s.
What surprised her was how quickly her memories came rushing back after all those years.
"I thought that I would have more distance from it, but (shooting the film) made me realize how visceral a lot of those experiences still are," she said.
"I was at these tiny loft shows, seeing Grimes and Mac DeMarco play to 75 incredibly inebriated people, and feeling like I was at the centre of the universe."
Levack's habit of saving souvenirs of her past didn't hurt either. Some of Ferreira's outfits come directly from the filmmaker's wardrobe, including a vintage Spin magazine T-shirt and a purse she totes around.
"This movie is an absolute treasure trove of iconic indie sleaze fits," she said.
"But it's a little surreal to see someone who's doing such an excellent job personifying a feeling in a scene that you wrote (also) wearing your old clothes."
Now that "Mile End Kicks" is being rolled out to audiences, Levack has her mind on another project that unexpectedly stole her attention over the summer.
Earlier this year, just as she was headed into sound mixing for her movie, she got a phone call from her agent. They said Adam Sandler had seen "I Like Movies" and wanted Levack to direct his next feature for Netflix.
Within days, she was in Los Angeles, sitting alongside the "Happy Gilmore" star as the two pitched the streaming giant on "Roommates," based on a script co-written by "Saturday Night Live" staff writers Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O'Sullivan.
"It was like taking off in a rocket ship," Levack said of the experience.
"Roommates" went into production over the summer with a budget of $30 million, which she said partly went to "a lot of set pieces, stunts and explosions." The cast includes “SNL” comic Sarah Sherman, Natasha Lyonne and Nick Kroll.
While Netflix hasn't yet announced a release date, Levack doesn't seem to hold the same fear about how the Sandler project will be received. At least not yet.
“They were like my babies,” Levack said, comparing it to her indie films.
“I got to nurture them, and birth them, but this is more like I'm the surrogate … ultimately, you know it's kind of not yours.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2025.
David Friend, The Canadian Press
