The Night Doctor (2021), a Cannes Hidden Gem
The Night Doctor achieves telling an original story in which the pace accelerates progressively while supported by dark aesthetics.

Shiori is a star university student with an incredible palate for wine who dreams of studying winemaking in France. However, to her dismay she is assigned to a rural sake brewery for her internship. To make matters worse, upon arrival she discovers that the brewery owners don’t exactly want her around. However, as it becomes clear that Shiori will be sticking around, she tries to make the best of things and begins to pitch in at the brewery, perhaps even warming up to the idea of drinking sake. And when the brewery owner falls gravely ill, and his upstart son Kanji is forced to take the lead, Shiori may provide the spark that can save the brewery and change her own life in the process..
The Night Doctor achieves telling an original story in which the pace accelerates progressively while supported by dark aesthetics.
It doesn’t offer an absolute answer for the dialectical ethical questions that emerged in search of justice but portrays the characters as living people beyond the identities of victims.
Amanda Riley gets the opportunity to travel to Vietnam for the experience of a lifetime.
We have a long way to go with LGBT representation in film, especially when it comes to LGBT characters of color and trans characters.
The Force Awakens is A New Hope 2.0, in essence. The story structure is virtually unchanged, marking a safe opening to the new trilogy.
'Midnight at the Paradise' premieres tomorrow at Toronto's Paradise Theatre! I had the pleasure to sit down with Vanessa Matsui to discuss the making of this film.