TIFF 2021: Scarborough

Even to those not familiar with Toronto’s suburban landscape, Scarborough (which is one of the suburbs within the metropolitan city) is clearly a film about marginalized people who often get ignored by the world they inhabit. As an ensemble piece that weaves together stories from a number of different characters, it’s really a socially conscious narrative that lends a voice to those who often go unheard. And for anyone who is actually familiar with Scarborough (as a location) and its often unfair reputation of being lesser than its geographical counterparts within the city of Toronto, the film will likely speak even louder.

Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson have faithfully transformed Catherine Hernandez‘s award-winning novel of the same name to the big screen, which was adapted into a screenplay by the author herself. The film focuses on the lower-income neighbourhood experiences of Scarborough, and tries not to shortchange the humanistic representation of these experiences. Overall, it manages to be an abundantly affective narrative exercise that shines in its ability to reveal harsh realities in a manner that can be both tender and gripping. But as someone who was born and raised in Scarborough, albeit in a different part of the suburb that is depicted in the film, I can’t help but feel disappointed that only the worst parts of the place I call home are being presented to the world. Not a bad film, but unfortunately a misstep in representation.

Scarborough is told primarily through the lens of three children who become friends at an after-school reading program run by a dedicated teacher, Ms. Hina (Aliya Kanani). There’s Bing (Liam Diaz), a Filipino boy who struggles to fit in at school and is scarred from living with an abusive father; Sylvie (Essence Fox), a strong-minded Indigenous girl whose family lives in a motel; and Laura (Anna Claire Beitel), who is tragically abandoned by her mother and left with a father who struggles with caring for himself, let alone another person. As the lives of these three families converge, the film expands on their struggles and triumphs as they navigate through adversity.

Scarborough as a Cinematic Experience

As a film, Scarborough hits all the right notes in expressing the somber song of reality that many marginalized individuals experience. With their documentary filmmaking backgrounds, Nakhai and Williamson clearly employ an observational lens in detailing the day-to-day lives of the story’s key players. The camera often follows along seemingly mundane events that end up revealing intimate details about each character’s life. This observational approach also heightens the more dramatic moments of the film, which can at times feel heavy-handed, but usually maintains a sense of realism in the midst of its intensity. It’s hard not to feel empathy towards all the film’s primary characters, including the few who don’t always make the right choices in life. By framing the film in the context of Scarborough (the suburb) being a character itself, actions, both good and bad, are viewed in light of environmental factors that aren’t under anyone’s control.

The performances in the film are generally quite solid, including strong debuts from Diaz, Fox and Beitel. Despite not always being particularly refined, each performance fits nicely into the film’s naturalistic approach to storytelling. Williamson‘s own cinematography work also uses a rather bleak palette, which again, fits in with the overall messaging of the film. But Scarborough does leave some room for its more uplifting moments, which do shine through and help showcase the strength and resiliency of the neighbourhood’s people. There’s a sense that despite all the hardships, everyone finds a way to truck on, which is the cornerstone of any community worth fighting for. This sentiment that all those involved in making this film are trying to champion a community they care deeply about certainly comes through, even if the actual content itself isn’t overly positive.

Scarborough as a Personal Experience

It’s hard to separate my objective opinions about the film from my very personal qualms about its representation of Scarborough. Like many stories about marginalized people, Scarborough (both the novel and film) focuses on the darker realities faced by its inhabitants. In doing so, it paints a journey of uplifting empowerment as they face all the challenges in front of them. It’s a narrative device that has been tried and tested and continues to invoke an emotional response that creates both empathy and admiration for those on the downside of advantage.

The problem is, I don’t think this reality is solely representative of Scarborough as a region. In fact, many parts of Scarborough (the north part, in particular) are not bleak at all and have a grounded vibrancy that is far from what we see in the film. The film tries to channel some of the region’s beauty through its characters’ resiliency and personal growth, but this beauty still comes from a dark place. The Scarborough that I know is beautiful in so many other ways and is also a minefield of multicultural openness that is unlike any other part of Toronto. There’s a lot of beauty that stems from a much more positive place, which simply isn’t shown in the film.

There’s obviously going to be regional variability everywhere, and there’s no need to make the assumption that Scarborough’s narrative represents everything about the suburb itself. But given that the film itself is titled Scarborough, and there has been nothing else like it before, this will become the de-facto depiction of what Scarborough is for many people. And that’s what really ignites my distaste for what this film represents. I’m not under the illusion that Scarborough is a perfect place and that the events and characters in the film aren’t grounded in reality. I know there’s truth to all of that, but the almost caricature depictions of lower-income life as an exclusive form of representation here is something that I have difficulties embracing. Scarborough is much more than this, and I worry that people who are loosely familiar with Toronto will continue to have a negative view of it, while those who are learning about it for the first time will have a tainted view based on what they see in the film.

Scarborough: Final Thoughts

As a film, Scarborough is a decent exercise in filmmaking, even if Nakhai and Williamson tend to be a bit heavy-handed in exploring the emotional beats of this turbulent narrative. And as someone who was born and raised in Scarborough, this film hits a particular chord, but not because it’s necessarily reflective of my own lived impressions growing up. Scarborough – both the film and the novel – focuses on a fairly specific subset of characterizations, but still feels universal because it’s a creative piece of storytelling focused on Scarborough itself. Not that there are feature films about Toronto’s other suburbs, but given the region’s generally lower social-economic status, most would agree that the voices of Scarborough natives tend not to be well heard. But the selective representation of the suburb’s most bleak realities, while largely ignoring what makes Scarborough such a uniquely beautiful epicentre of diversity, is a bit disheartening to me.

They say that any press is good press, and the local response of the film out of the Toronto International Film Festival seems to lean heavily towards this line of thinking. People are obviously excited that there’s a feature film out there with Scarborough in its title, which is already an impact statement on its own. If you watch the film from the perspective of it being something that is trying to lend a voice to those who often go unheard, the messaging can be quite powerful. But with more local and personal context embedded into that perspective, Scarborough, unfortunately, feels like a misrepresentation of a neighbourhood that is far from perfect, but certainly not as bleak as what the filmmakers depict.

What are your thoughts on Scarborough? Let us know in the comments below.

Scarborough had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

Watch Scarborough