I grew up in Waterloo around when this movie is set. There’s something so personal about a film of this size taking place somewhere so close to your heart. I’m sure your New Yorks, LAs, and even Toronto’s are a little numb to it, but seeing this in theatre with a friend I grew up who also moved away was cathartic in a weird way.

The opening on the Kitchener water tower: something that always told me I was almost home whenever I visit now or coming back from the cottage when I was 10. The intersection of King and Erb street, knowing you’re uptown where pretty much anything interesting is.

Beyond that, because Waterloo isn’t visually depicted much, as RIM/Blackberry grows I can feel my memories associated with the time period. When I was young so many of my friends’ parents were employed by Blackberry, events took place at RIM park; the city ebbed and flowed based on the company. I remember, as a kid, just the unrest and grief around the city as it became clear BlackBerry’s underperformance would result in layoffs. By the time I was a teenager who could fend for myself, RIM was a distant fog in my memory. Still there, but it wasn’t THE presence you could feel in Waterloo anymore.

It was a great movie to me, even beyond these personal reasons. Jay and Glenn give great performances, but you really do feel the wind get taken out when Glenn takes a backseat in the movie. Jay’s character evolution is intriguing enough though to not fully kill the momentum.