Bodied

Penned by celebrated Toronto battle rapper Alex Larsen (a.k.a. Kid Twist), the film assumes the perspective of Adam (Calum Worthy), a white, purportedly progressive graduate student who infiltrates a community of diverse battle rappers for the sake of an edgy thesis. Before long he develops his own predilection for skilfully slinging rhymed insults and epithets as a competitive poet, and Kahn plays out the premise like a twitchy funhouse mirror of 8 Mile, cleverly subverting the Eminem vehicle's trajectory to a sardonic and sobering effect. The result also functions as a cultural mirror, one that invites you to laugh, gasp, and most importantly - perhaps most damningly - to invite recognition. (Toronto International Film Festival)