A staple of filmmaking, the coming-of-age story works because, regardless of circumstances, we can all relate to the story being told.  Whether we’re young and needing affirmation, or old and needing reminding, a story of a young person going on a quest and finding themselves in the process is one we can all see ourselves in.  The execution is tricky; it’s easy to fall too far into familiar cliches without bringing anything new, but when one of these stories lands, it can be among the most satisfying.  This Too Shall Pass narrowly avoids this trap by engaging with it directly.  

Simon (Maxwell Jenkins) is a young man living in 1980s Syracuse. Being the son of strict Mormon parents in a city that has few others of his faith, he’s stuck in a frustrating middle place that makes him an outsider to both his school friends and his family: he’s both not wild enough for the former and too wild for the latter. His workaround, telling his parents that he’s in basically every extra-curricular activity (that they refuse to come to), gives him the freedom to see his friends, but he’s still behind when it comes to life skills and, most importantly, girls. 

On one of these nights out a girl he likes tells him that she’s going to Ottawa for vacation and it would be way less boring if he were there, and so he convinces his friends Tim (Ben Cockell), Chris (Jeremy Ray Taylor), John (Aidan Laprete), and James (Jaylin Webb) to go on a quest to get the girl.

The plot from here is very much what you might expect from this kind of movie.  Simon steals money from his parents to get his friends across the border, and when they arrive in Ottawa, the girl lets him know in no uncertain terms that his presence isn’t welcome. After being robbed, they attempt to shoplift to raise some cash to get home, and this is when they meet Misty (Katie Douglas), Helen(Saylor McPherson), and Sophie (Jade V. Robinson).  You can likely guess the rest, at least in the broad strokes, but maybe not how all the details shake out, and in a film like this, it’s those details that make it worth watching. 

This Too Shall Pass is a film that feels like it very easily could have been another generic entry in the genre, but it sets itself apart in a few clever ways.  The story uses a clever framing device: Simon is narrating from the back of a police car, with a dour look on his face and a bloody nose. This allows for both Simon to be an unreliable narrator, and for the officer driving (Chris Sandiford) to provide commentary on his shit storytelling.  

The next thing it does is engage with the cliches and references head-on.  The characters spend much of their time talking about music (the film features a bangin’ 80s soundtrack) and films of the day, in particular the films of John Hughes, but also whenever a film is about to take a Hughesian turn, a character is quick to point it out.  It’s cleverly done, and the self-awareness keeps the film from feeling like a tired retread. 

Lastly, the film has heart in spades. This sounds cheesy, and it brings the film into cheesy territory more than once, too, but it’s also required for a film like this. For the characters to feel like real, flawed humans trying their best, for the actors to buy in and get it, it’s the heart that makes it all work. Director Rob Grant and his writing partner, Michael Simon Baker, have definitely found it with this story and this group of actors.

This Too Shall Pass isn’t going to rewrite the book on coming-of-age films, but it is a great entry in the genre. A fun group of characters in a well-meaning story, wearing its heart and references right on its sleeve for all to see, and a couple of cameos from Canadian icons like Michael Ironside and Mark McKinney.  It’s nostalgic and fun, and it reminds us that the journey is the important thing, not the destination.

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This Too Shall Pass, on deman on March 3rd, 2026