With Love and a Major Organ

Struggling artist by night, virtual insurance broker by day, Anabel (the wonderful Anna Maguire) has a heart problem: it’s just too big for this world. Rejected and derided by her more sophisticated “friends”, Anabel falls for George (Hamza Haq), a stranger with a penchant for reading yesterday’s newspaper with all the bad news redacted. But George still lives with his overly protective mum (Veena Sood), and both will take some persuading that Anabel is his heart’s desire.

Julia Lederer’s witty screenplay (based on her play) creates a comfortably numb parallel world just a notch or two further down the path to digital nirvana than our own. Here, most people have ceded their autonomy to an app called LifeZapp, which filters potential partners down to a simple yes or no, saving you the trouble of sizing them up for yourself. Anabel’s insistence on authentic human connection sticks out like a sore thumb, but her solution may still take you by surprise…

Filmed right here in Vancouver, Kim Albright’s directorial debut strikes a lo-(sci-)fi surrealist vibe vaguely reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s whimsical, unpredictable, but more than anything it’s true enough to hit close to home.

Apr 12: Filmmaker Q&A

Apr 13, 8:30 pm screening: Filmmaker Q&A

With Love and a Major Organ… has a big, gooey heart. That is one of the many endearing and enriching things about this movie, a clever sci-fi comedy for anyone who feels we could all stand to live and love a little more…. Julia Lederer’s script is like a more optimistic Charlie Kaufman, but comparisons for this film to any other entities stop there… This movie has so much wisdom, and it comes from Albright and her inspired team as if it were intuition.

Nick Allen, rogerebert.com

With Love and A Major Organ is a sparkling debut for Albright and a wonderful piece of independent cinema that keeps its world alive and relevant. It speaks to what life means and how difficult it can be to navigate, especially if you are sensitive. One can predict a vivid future for Kim Albright because her heart is most certainly in the right place.

Nadine Whitney, The Curb

Charming, playful, and at times painful… For anyone who has ever been in love, and even more so, felt the deep pain of losing it, this film is sure to strike a chord. Optimistic, realistic, a whimsical manifestation of the emotional pains we all suffer, With Love and a Major Organ is one from the heart, whatever shape yours takes.

J Hurtado, Screen Anarchy