Blue Heron (film)

Blue Heron
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySophy Romvari
Written bySophy Romvari
Produced byRyan Bobkin
Sara Wylie
Sophy Romvari
Gábor Osváth
StarringEylul Guven
Amy Zimmer
Ádám Tompa
Iringó Réti
CinematographyMaya Bankovic
Edited byKurt Walker
Music byBlitz//Berlin
Production
companies
Nine Behind Productions
Boddah
Distributed byBlue Fox Entertainment (Canada)
Release date
  • August 8, 2025 (2025-08-08) (Locarno)
Running time
91 minutes[1]
CountriesCanada
Hungary
LanguagesEnglish
Hungarian

Blue Heron is a 2025 drama film written and directed by Sophy Romvari. Described as "semi-autobiographical,"[2] the film is based in part on Romvari's own childhood and her previous short film Still Processing.[3][4] The film stars Eylul Guven as Sasha, the eight-year-old daughter of a Hungarian immigrant family who relocate to Vancouver Island in the late 1990s while their oldest son Jeremy (Edik Beddoes) displays increasingly dangerous behavioural issues in their new environment. The cast also includes Ádám Tompa and Iringó Réti as Sasha's parents, Liam Serg and Preston Drabble as Sasha’s brothers, and Amy Zimmer as Adult Sasha.[5]

The film, Romvari's feature-length film debut,[6] received production funding from both Telefilm Canada and the National Film Institute Hungary, and entered production in 2024.[7][8]

After winning accolades at film festivals such as TIFF and Locarno, the film was acquired for distribution by Janus Films.[9]

Cast

  • Eylul Guven as Sasha
  • Iringó Réti as Mother
  • Ádám Tompa as Father
  • Edik Beddoes as Jeremy
  • Amy Zimmer as Adult Sasha
  • Liam Serg as Henry
  • Preston Drabble as Felix

Background

In an essay for CBC Arts, Romvari described Blue Heron as her "most significant attempt to capture just how fallible memory is."[10]

Production

After winning production funding from both Telefilm Canada and the National Film Institute Hungary, the film entered production in 2024 in British Columbia.[7][8]

Blue Heron serves as Romvari's feature-length film debut.[6]

Release

Blue Heron had its world premiere at the 78th Locarno Film Festival on August 8, 2025, as part of the Concorso Cineasti del Presente competition.[11] At Locarno, Romvari won the Swatch First Feature Award, which came with a CHF 15,000 prize.[12]

It had its Canadian premiere in the Centrepiece program at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.[13] It has since screened at more than a dozen film festivals internationally,[14] including the 44th Vancouver International Film Festival, where it won several awards;[15] the Festival du nouveau cinéma, where it won the Grand Prix;[16] the 56th International Film Festival of India;[17] the Bangkok International Film Festival;[18] and San Sebastián, where it won a Special Mention from the jury.[14][19]

The film was acquired for commercial distribution in the United States by Janus Films.[9] On February 26, 2026, Blue Fox Entertainment acquired the Canadian distribution rights to the film.[20] It is scheduled to be released in Canada on April 17, 2026.[21]

Reception

The film currently holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 critic reviews.[22] On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film holds a score of 95 of 100 based on nine critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[23]

Variety film critic Guy Lodge praised the film, calling it a "splintered, shattering memory piece."[6]

In a review for The Film Stage, Leonardo Gol wrote: "For a director whose projects have always tested the medium’s capacity to conjure and make peace with the specters of one’s past, it feels like the kind of moment Romvari’s been working towards from the start. For a brief, miraculous instant, Sasha’s catharsis is ours too."[24]

For Screen Daily, Nikki Baughan wrote that "Blue Heron blurs the line between fact and fiction in a woozy, laconic way; this is a drama in which perspectives shift, timelines merge and soft-focus sequences are layered with a documentary-style aesthetic. It’s all part of the journey of recollection and discovery for protagonist Sasha – who we see as both a young girl and an adult – and for Romvari, who is using the narrative to unpick her own memories, to get to better grips with her own formative experiences."[5]

The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2025.[25]

Romvari won the award for Best First Feature from the Toronto Film Critics Association,[2] and the film has also been nominated for the $50,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.[26]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Result Ref.
Locarno Film Festival August 16, 2025 Golden Leopard – Filmmakers of the Present Blue Heron Nominated [27]
Swatch First Feature Award Won [12][28]
Toronto International Film Festival September 14, 2025 Best Canadian Discovery Won [29]
Director's Guild of Canada 2025 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award Shortlisted [30]
Vancouver International Film Festival 8 October 2025 Horizon Award for Emerging Canadian Director Won [31]
Arbutus Award for Best British Columbia Director Won
Festival du nouveau cinéma 2025 National Competition, Grand Prix for Best Feature Film Won [16]
Toronto Film Critics Association 2025 Rogers Best Canadian Film Won [2][26]
Best First Feature Won
Vancouver Film Critics Circle 2025 Best Actress in a Canadian Film Iringó Réti Nominated [32]
Best British Columbia Film Blue Heron Nominated
Best British Columbia Director Sophy Romvari Nominated
One to Watch Won [33]

References

  1. ^ "Blue Heron [PG]". British Columbia Film Classification Office (Consumer Protection BC). March 20, 2026. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c "Filmmaker honoured for drama about immigrant family's move to Vancouver Island". Times Colonist. 2025-12-09. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  3. ^ Petkova, Savina (2025-09-08). "Interview: Sophy Romvari on Blue Heron". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  4. ^ "Blue Heron (2025) by Sophy Romvari". Cinematary. 2026-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  5. ^ a b Baughan, Nikki. "'Blue Heron' review: Contemplative Canadian debut sees a filmmaker confront her difficult past". Screen. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  6. ^ a b c Lodge, Guy (2025-08-10). "'Blue Heron' Review: Sophy Romvari's Debut Feature Is a Splintered, Shattering Memory Piece". Variety. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  7. ^ a b Mirza, Taimur Sikander. "Telefilm selects 18 projects for 2023-24 Talent to Watch". Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  8. ^ a b Fekete, Anna. "PRODUCTION: Canadian/Hungarian Blue Heron Starts Filming - FilmNewEurope.com". www.filmneweurope.com. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  9. ^ a b Casemore, Jamie. "Janus Films acquires Sophy Romvari's Blue Heron for the U.S." Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  10. ^ Romvari, Sophy (September 4, 2025). "Making a film about memories, I learned just how slippery they can be". CBC Arts.
  11. ^ Szalai, Georg (July 8, 2025). "'Dracula' by Radu Jude, David Lynch-Exec Produced 'Happy Worker' Set for Locarno Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Casemore, Jamie. "Sophy Romvari's Blue Heron wins First Feature Award at Locarno". Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  13. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro, "TIFF Centrepiece Section Counts 55 Titles Including Pics Starring Shailene Woodley, Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Samara Weaving, Stephen Graham & More". Deadline Hollywood, August 5, 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Blue Heron - MoreThan Films". Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  15. ^ "Awards". Vancouver International Film Festival. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  16. ^ a b "Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma unveils its award winners". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 2025-10-21. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  17. ^ "Rising Stars - 2025". International Film Festival of India. 7 November 2025. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  18. ^ "BLUE HERON". vp.eventival.com. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  19. ^ Baughan, Nikki. "'Blue Heron' review: Contemplative Canadian debut sees a filmmaker confront her difficult past". Screen. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  20. ^ Casemore, Jamie (February 26, 2026). "Blue Fox Canada acquires Sophy Romvari's Blue Heron". Playback. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  21. ^ Ntim, Zac. "Janus Films Sets Theatrical Release Date For Sophy Romvari's Buzzy Debut 'Blue Heron'". Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  22. ^ "Blue Heron". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  23. ^ "Blue Heron Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  24. ^ Gol, Leonardo (August 8, 2025). "Locarno Review: A Seance of Self and Film, Blue Heron is an Astonishing Debut". thefilmstage.com. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  25. ^ Jamie Casemore, "TIFF unveils 2025 selections for Canada’s Top Ten features, shorts". Playback, January 6, 2026.
  26. ^ a b Press, The Canadian. "'One Battle After Another' dominates Toronto Film Critics Association Awards with 4 wins". CFJC Today Kamloops. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  27. ^ Marta Balaga (July 8, 2025). "Radu Jude, Abdellatif Kechiche Head to Locarno as Swiss Fest Announces Lineup, An 'Ambitious and Exciting Edition'". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  28. ^ Tabbara, Mona. "Sho Miyake's 'Two Seasons, Two Strangers' wins Golden Leopard at Locarno 2025". Screen. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  29. ^ Pete Hammond, "‘Hamnet’ Wins Oscar-Predictive Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice Award". Deadline Hollywood, September 14, 2025.
  30. ^ Connie Thiessen, "DGC unveils film, doc nominees; Discovery Award short list". Broadcast Dialogue, September 22, 2025.
  31. ^ Andrew Tracy, "The Things You Kill, Blue Heron take trophies at VIFF awards". Playback, October 10, 2025.
  32. ^ Andrew Tracy, "Mile End Kicks, ‘Nirvanna’ lead noms for Vancouver critics’ awards". Playback, January 21, 2026.
  33. ^ Andrew Tracy, "‘Nirvanna the Band’ tops Canadian winners at VFCC Awards". Playback, February 24, 2026.
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