SCREEN | Coming Out 'To the Moon' x VQFF 2025

"It prevents the moon from crashing to the Earth."

Vancouver Queer Film Festival

To the Moon, Halifax writer/director Kevin Hartford's offbeat second feature film, revolves around a closeted single father (Jacob Sampson), his savvy teen daughter (Phoebe Rex), and their eccentric writer neighbour (Amy Groening), whose interactions reveal a strange premise about the greater world amidst the former's struggle to come out.

Structured as a fairly minimal suburban comedy about self-discovery and the messiness of growing up at any age, there are several unexplained elements that are introduced matter-of-factly without fanfare to build a quirky but amusing viewing experience. Impeccably cast with an interesting mix of Canadian actors whose performances complement each other's both deadpan and manic sensibilities, the film has an easy charm to its strangeness.

For the most part, To the Moon focuses on the odd interactions between its characters that end in an abrupt revelation to explain how and why certain weird elements are presented to us. Hartford and his actors commit to the baffling but ultimately satisfying bit as we learn why the father and daughter, whose non-resemblance as a large Black man and a pale Caucasian girl goes unremarked, must do a TikTok-style "moondance" to start their day every morning. It's a charming bit of mess.

To the Moon screens as part of the 2025 Vancouver Queer Film Festival at International Village with a post-screening Q&A on September 13th. It will also be available to stream online in BC from September 22nd to 28th.


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