If you’re looking for a Canadian film to Champion this winter, look no further than Kris Booth’s feature film debut At Home, by Myself…With You.

Romantic comedies are a dime a dozen but few have as much creativity and heart as Booth and Ramona Barckert’s story of a girl afraid to leave her house. Deciding that she was responsible for the deaths of her father, mother and dog, Romy has been locked in her apartment for six years. She works, watches old movies, eats, sleeps and even has dates! She is a mostly normal adult who doesn’t leave her home and who has a series of other strange phobias which developed before her fear of leaving home. She’s happy (or so she thinks) until the death of her next door neighbour brings a very handsome but mysterious nameless man who turns Romy’s life upside down.

I know, you’ve seen it before but never quite like this. Booth and Barckert’s script is funny and charming and allows for characters who break expectation. Romy may have been home bound for six years but she’s not the quiet introvert one might expect but rather a fun loving, happy girl with a positive (if somewhat whacked) view of life. The love interest, let’s call him Dude, is handsome and charming and though he starts off as an ass and the kind of guy Romy should avoid, he quickly comes to realize what he’s missing out on.

Accompanying great performances from Kristin Booth and Aaron Abrams in lead roles are Raoul Bhaneja as the wacky building caretaker and the fantastic Gordon Pinsent who brings it all together with brilliant narration.

I expect the chances of seeing this one open across Canada in the coming months are quite good; at least I hope so because At Home, by Myself…With You is all sorts of fun and would make for a wonderful date movie.

See VIFF screening schedule for show times.