Wet Bum aka Surfacing (2014)

(On Cable TV, June 2020) I’m not sure what qualifies as a truly unfortunate movie title, but I’m thinking that if a major newspaper spends the first few paragraphs of an article titled “What is wrong with the Canadian film industry?” talking about marketing problems caused by titling a film Wet Bum, then we’ve got a serious contender. As the article states, the film is much better than its title would suggest: it’s the prototypically Canadian low-budget character study, sympathetic and likable and yet almost intent on self-sabotage. The narrative focuses on an awkward teenage girl with self-esteem issues, and facing bullying, and having a terrible job, and suffering overbearing parents, and having unfulfilled romantic ambitions, and so on. (If you’re wondering about the title, it’s because she takes swimming lessons.) Julia Sarah Stone is rather good as the 14-year-old protagonist, and writer-director Lindsay MacKay has an eye for detail that justifies this 90-minute excursion in incredibly unpleasant wintertime small-town Canada as seen from a teenager’s unhappy viewpoint. The coming-of-age dramatic strands at play in Wet Bum aren’t hard to figure out, but it’s all in the competent execution. Don’t let the title put you off—no wonder it was retitled Surfacing abroad!