Programmer's Note

Seventeen-year-old Desson (Tyler Johnston) discovers the body of his best friend Barry (Callum Worthy) hanging from his garage ceiling. Although Barry, a teenaged gambler, was drowning in debt, nothing indicated that his predicament would lead him to sui­cide. Furthermore, the triumphant-sounding message he left on Desson’s voicemail mere hours before his death indicates something is amiss.

Desson — also a regular participant at the clandestine gambling parlour set up in a classmate’s basement — decides to inves­tigate. But he can’t quite play his cards right in the unfamiliar realm of amateur detective work: his questions and indiscretions bring hostility and bruises, eventually leading him to the backroom of a Chinese restaurant, where the gamblers play hard and the stakes are higher. Did Barry know this place? Was he there the night before he supposedly committed suicide? These questions lead Desson through a web of lies and dissimula­tions — and will force him to reveal his own deceptions.

The debut feature from Vancouver writer/director Simon Davidson, The Odds is both a teen social portrait and an edgy suspense thriller. An inspired and efficient cross between John Dahl’s Rounders and Rian Johnson’s Brick, the film is imbued with a sensitivity toward adolescent behaviour reminiscent of Gus Van Sant’s best work. Davidson leads us into a scrupulously researched world of teenaged gamblers; abandoned by busy or negligent parents, these kids play with extreme odds. (Desson’s mother has died, and his loving, well-inten­tioned father is bogged down in grief.)

A gun, a mysterious death, a bag of money, a carousel of poker-faced characters and a taut, time-compressed script propel The Odds to its wise and meaningful conclusion, revealing a game far more sophisticated than anyone would have suspected. Martin Bilodeau