TIFF 2010: Director Jacob Tierney Goes From High School Rebellion To Serial Killers With GOOD NEIGHBOURS

How's this for a change of tone? Director Jacob Tierney made a big impression at last year's Toronto International Film Festival with The Trotsky, a quirky comedy that starred Jay Baruchel as a young man who believed he was the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. Baruchel's back in Tierney's next but there's no comedy in Good Neighbours, instead this one moves into serial killer territory. Here's the official synopsis:

Louise (Emily Hampshire) and Spencer (Scott Speedman) live in the same apartment complex in Notre Dame de Grace, a small, usually peaceful Montreal neighborhood where a serial killer is on the loose. Spencer moved in after losing his wife and the ability to walk in a tragic car accident. He stays home most days in his wheelchair, while Louise works as a waitress at a nearby Chinese restaurant. When shy and eager-to-please Victor (Jay Baruchel) moves into the building, he is a ray of light for the edgy inhabitants; striking up a friendship with Louise and Spencer. But one night, Victor spots someone walking in the courtyard who, in the moonlight, looks very much like Spencer - could he be the killer the community fears? When Louise and a very-much-walking Spencer come face to face in the courtyard late one night, both with blood on their hands, they can only wonder which of the three of them might be the next victim.

Among the points not mentioned in that synopsis are that the film is set during the referendum period in which Quebec - the French speaking part of Canada - very nearly voted to separate from the rest of the country and political tensions were running EXTREMELY high throughout the entire country, but particularly in mixed-language areas like Montreal. And also, according to Baruchel, this film has the most extreme kill sequence in it that you are likely to see on screen this year. So there you have it.