Oh, Canada ★★★★

Released: 12^th January 2026 (digital release)

Director: Paul Schrader

Starring: Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli, Jacob Elordi

Paul Schrader’s career as a writer/director had a second win in 2017 with First Reformed. He soon followed this with similar dark character studies, The Card Counter and Master Gardener, forming a loose trilogy. Now he returns with Oh, Canada, which originally premiered in 2024 as it finally receives a UK release digitally. It is a departure from the tone and themes of his previous work, gentler but no less powerful. We follow celebrated documentary filmmaker Leonard “Leo” Fife (Richard Gere), at death’s door and recounting his life story for a retrospective film. Leo takes this as an opportunity for closure and to tell some truths that have never been told before.

It is an adaptation of the 2021 novel Foregone by Russell Banks, the second time Schrader has tackled the author’s work following his 1997 film Affliction. It also sees him re-teaming with Gere following 1980’s American Gigolo.

Gere grounds the film through his voiceover, guiding us through key moments in Leo’s life as he fled the Vietnam War draft and settled in Canada. It’s a vulnerable performance from Gere, under some heavy makeup in one of his least glamorous roles, but still one that shows he’s lost none of his ability in later years. Jacob Elordi is a fine foil as the younger Leo.

Schrader cleverly blends the eras of Leo’s life with Gere, sometimes appearing in the flashbacks, also intersecting some of the flashbacks with black and white. It captures how the past continues to haunt us and can blend into our present. The way two or sometimes three timeframes interlink is never overly confusing and is handled deftly.

Phosphorescent’s stellar score sets the mood and helps the segue between eras effortlessly. At 90 minutes, there is a lot crammed into the runtime but it rarely feels rushed. So much hangs on Gere’s performance here, and this is one of his best leading roles in some time, also offering further proof of Schrader’s ability as both a director and writer. It is a welcome departure from the tried and tested formula of his recent work, showing he is far from a one-trick pony. It might be slight but there is a beauty and tenderness to Oh, Canada, a quietly moving melancholic film that feels like it has been widely overlooked.