#REVIEW: “TOY GUN BANDIT” REVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore

Rémi St-Michel’s latest proves how easy it is for a teen to get swept away in a life of crime.

We follow 15-year-old Félix (Félix Munger) who, like everyone else, just wants to belong. On the night of his birthday, he walks into a store in the suburbs of Quebec City pretending to rob the place. This prank leads to him meeting Dave (David Beaudoin), an aspiring gangster. Dave makes Félix feel like he belongs and quickly convinces the young man to join him on his bank robbery heist. However, this one heist takes Félix on an unexpected direction into the criminal underbelly of the city.

Toy Gun Bandit opens with a “This is almost a true story” title card. And we can easily understand why. All we need to do is turn on the news,  and we’ll hear about a teenage criminal. St-Michel has crafted a film that takes us beyond the headlines. This isn’t the darkest story of a young criminal, if it was none of us would watch. St-Michel and Munger allow us to watch as Félix’s youthful innocence gets manipulated. Therefore, allowing us to still see him as the hero we want saved.

Everything about Toy Gun Bandit feels authentic: from the cinematography to the fact that the primary characters share the same names as their performers. At the forefront are the performances. Munger is outstanding as this young man trying to find his way in and out of the criminal world. Beaudoin is impactful as this self-centred and often sloppy gangster. Then there’s the unrecognizable Sara Montpetit, who gives an indelible performance as Sara, a drug addict being forced into these robberies.

Toy Gun Bandit screens at TIFF ’26:

Thur. Sept 10 @ 2:45 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Tues. Sept 15 @ 9 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto