Don McKellar

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Sandra Oh and Don McKellar kiss it all goodbye.

A romantic drama with a sci-fi twist, Don McKellar’s 1998 gem looks at life in Toronto on the last day on Earth. It’s not precisely clear why the planet is doomed–the sun may be heading this way–but everyone knows ahead of time exactly when the end is arriving. Against a backdrop of a city full of rioters and revelers, a collection of interrelated residents treats the final 24 hours as a holiday: for some it’s Christmas, for some it’s New Year’s Eve and for some Valentine’s Day.

Architect Patrick Wheeler (McKellar) is depressed, but not because the world is ending. He has a sad backstory that gradually emerges, but before that can happen he visits his family at a faux Yuletide celebration before returning to his apartment to die alone. His plans change, however, when he grudgingly takes in stranded Sandra (Sandra Oh), a gorgeous woman who’s had a mob hang her car like a tree ornament from a telephone pole. Sandra is desperate to get home to her husband (David Cronenberg), so that they can carry out a mutual suicide pact. Meanwhile, Patrick’s longtime friend Alex (Trent McMullen) faces the end of days like its the last days of disco, hooking up with as many people as possible, including his old schoolteacher (Genevieve Bujold). He engages in a meticulously planned checklist of sexual delights.

For Patrick and Sandra, there is no planning, just circumstance. Neither can shed the other and soon they stop trying to. In the urgency of the predicament, a rapid romance develops and they realize they want to share the final moments together. Perhaps that will mean exchanging bullets from guns or perhaps a kiss before dying.

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