Themes: Misfits and Outsiders, Crisis of Conscience, Questioning Sexuality
Main Cast: Aaron Webber, Daniel MacIvor, Rebecca Jenkins, Robert Joy, Callum Keith Rennie
Release Year: 2005
Country: CA
Run Time: 92 minutes
Plot
A precocious teenage genius is suddenly forced to adapt to the real world, while the real world around him is having some growing pains of its own in this independent comedy drama from Canada. Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber) is an exceptionally talented and intelligent 13-year-old who has been raised and educated by his free-thinking parents ,Rog (Robert Joy) and Kaya (Rebecca Jenkins). While Emerson is clever, witty, and has recently written his first novel, he doesn't seem to have very good socialization skills when he spends time with others, and as he enters adolescence, Rog and Kaya decide to enroll him in public school so he can learn how to function with others (as well as patching up some gaps in his education). While most of Emerson's teachers are happy to have him in class, his ambiguous sexuality and tart intellectualism make him an immediate target for bullies in his small Nova Scotia town. Emerson's English teacher, Don Grant (Daniel MacIvor), has a bigger problem than most with his new student -- Emerson becomes quite infatuated with Don, and isn't at all shy about expressing his attraction, while the closeted Don is torn between a desire to return his advances and the knowledge that he'd be throwing away his career in education if he even acknowledged them. Whole New Thing received its world premier at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Whole New Thing is a 2005 Canadian dramatic film which was directed by Amnon Buchbinder. The script is co-written by Amnon Buchbinder and Daniel MacIvor. Filmed entirely on location in Mahone Bay and Halifax, Nova Scotia, during winter and over the course of 15 days, the film is an unconventional coming-of-age narrative of a 13 year old boy, Emerson Thorsen (played by Aaron Webber). Emerson lives in an isolated straw-bale house with his counter-cultural parents, Rog (Robert Joy) and Kaya (Rebecca Jenkins). However, when Kaya decides that homeschooling provides too little structure for Emerson, she enrolls him at the local middle-school under the tuition of 43 year old Don Grant (Daniel MacIvor). Emerson, despite displaying a developed intellectual approach to sexuality, discovers the problems that come with developing a crush, and the taboo of this crush being his teacher.
The film soundtrack is scored by David Buchbinder and contains songs by The Hidden Cameras.
The film is distributed by THINKFilm and co-funded by the NSFDC.
