Toronto After Dark, Day 2: Crave Somewhere inside, everyone has an idea of who they feel they should be.  Life does not always pan out as we intend;  perhaps we are not bold enough, perhaps we are not strong enough.  What if these visions of the road not taken began to haunt our every dream?  What would then happen if we threw caution to the wind and followed these thoughts?  More importantly, what would happen if we didn’t? Aiden (Josh Lawson) is a crime scene photographer grappling with these questions in Crave, a vengeance-fantasy-slash-character-study from director Charles de Lauzirika.  His day job has left him feeling powerless, disconnected, and desperate to regain control of his life.  Two paths lay before him: to escape into a normal life with his lovely neighbour Victoria (Emma Lung) or embrace his dark fantasies and fight back against the evil he sees all around him. How this plays out proves to be unexpected at times, which keeps things interesting.  There are some pacing issues throughout, particularly in the second half, and Aiden makes a number of seemingly random decisions for someone whose head we spend a lot of time in. However, with a good mix of dark and light comedy, slick noir-inspired styling, and some great acting and chemistry, Crave makes for a solid psychological thriller.  3.5 out of 5 stars.
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Toronto After Dark, Day 2: Crave

Somewhere inside, everyone has an idea of who they feel they should be.  Life does not always pan out as we intend;  perhaps we are not bold enough, perhaps we are not strong enough.  What if these visions of the road not taken began to haunt our every dream?  What would then happen if we threw caution to the wind and followed these thoughts?  More importantly, what would happen if we didn’t?

Aiden (Josh Lawson) is a crime scene photographer grappling with these questions in Crave, a vengeance-fantasy-slash-character-study from director Charles de Lauzirika.  His day job has left him feeling powerless, disconnected, and desperate to regain control of his life.  Two paths lay before him: to escape into a normal life with his lovely neighbour Victoria (Emma Lung) or embrace his dark fantasies and fight back against the evil he sees all around him.

How this plays out proves to be unexpected at times, which keeps things interesting.  There are some pacing issues throughout, particularly in the second half, and Aiden makes a number of seemingly random decisions for someone whose head we spend a lot of time in.

However, with a good mix of dark and light comedy, slick noir-inspired styling, and some great acting and chemistry, Crave makes for a solid psychological thriller.  3.5 out of 5 stars.