Sumerian Pictures has acquired the U.S. rights to Mile End Kicks with plans for a nationwide theatrical release. Written and directed by Chandler Levack (I Like Movies), and starring Barbie Ferreira, Mile End Kicks premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival as the Opening Night selection of the Special Presentations programme. XYZ Films co-financed the film in conjunction with IPR.VC and represents global sales rights outside Canada. 

In Mile End Kicks, Grace Pine is a 24-year-old music critic in the summer of 2011 writing a book about Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” when she gets romantically involved with two people in the same struggling indie rock band. Set in Montreal’s Mile End music scene, where Mac DeMarco, Arcade Fire and Grimes started their careers, the film is an audacious rom-com and an honest look at a young female writer reclaiming her voice, full of ill-advised sex, drugs and rock n’roll. 

The film stars Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria, Bob Trevino Likes It), Devon Bostick (Oppenheimer, Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Stanley Simons (The Iron Claw), Juliette Gariépy (Red Rooms) and Jay Baruchel (BlackBerry, This is the End). Montreal band TOPS wrote two original songs for the soundtrack.

Director Levack said “I’m utterly delighted that American audiences will have the chance to see Mile End Kicks on the big screen next year! My favourite cinematic experiences have all been watching rom-coms in a theatre and I can’t wait to laugh, cry and cringe with you. Thank you so much to Sumerian Pictures for their support and my producing team and our partners. I am especially grateful to my brilliant cast and team of collaborators who helped me tell this story across the two solitudes of Ontario and Quebec.” 

Rob Williams, President, Content Strategy for Sumerian Pictures said “Mile End Kicks is smart, hilarious and speaks from the heart, exactly the kind of film you want to see with an audience.”

Williams negotiated the acquisition on behalf of Sumerian Pictures with Pip Ngo at XYZ Films.

Mile End Kicks is a Zapruder Films/Banner House Productions and is produced by Matthew Miller (BlackBerry), Pat Kiely (Three Night Stand) and Julie Groleau (The Decline). 

Mile End Kicks is produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada, SODEC, Ontario Creates, Crave and CBC Films, in association with Rhombus Media. 

Mile End Kicks will be released in Canada by Elevation Pictures, with Entract Films releasing in Québec.