Colin is a gentle soft-spoken Australian whose life is tainted by regret, Mitch is a lewd American loudmouth who lives in the now. These two aging buddies set off to Iceland in an attempt to reclaim their youth on a tour of Reykjavik nightclubs, trendy spas and rugged campsites. Their seemingly uneventful journey is rich with good conversation and subtle insights. Beautifully shot in dazzling landscapes, this unassuming road movie is a witty throwback to ‘80s buddy comedies and a rumination on friendship and what makes life worth living.

An expertly constructed ensemble drama in the vein of Magnolia or Lantana, Miraculum hops backwards and forwards in time, shifting its focus across the interlocking lives of eight Montreal residents on the cusp of life-changing decisions. At its centre is a spectacular and tragic plane crash whose narrative ripples are not fully understood until the final frames. The colourful characters – including a Jehova’s Witness, a lustful bartender and a drug runner – come alive with great performances from a cast which includes acclaimed Quebec actors Xavier Dolan, Marilyn Castonguay and Julien Poulin.

Movie geeks and best friends Matt and Owen are constant targets for a group of high school bullies they call “The Dirties”. Assigned a class project, they set out to shoot a hilarious film, sending up their oppressors. Soon the high-school comedy turns into a revenge movie as tensions build and the line between fiction and reality blurs. Original and brutally honest, The Dirties is a complex and gripping story of friendship, obsession and violence. It injects raw energy, gut-wrenching chills and the blackest of humour into an increasingly stale and preachy genre.

Claire is under the grip of a mysterious cult known as Faults. Claire’s desperate parents set out to recruit mind control expert Ansel Roth to abduct and deprogram her. Washed out, in debt and in trouble, Ansel agrees. But Claire reveals herself to be a formidable challenge. As it cunningly evolves from black comedy to psychological thriller, Faults remains utterly compelling thanks to a clever script (on the 2013 Black List of unproduced screenplays) and brilliant chemistry between rising star Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) and character actor Leland Orser (Se7en, Taken).