Jonathan Keijser

(On Cable TV, December 2022) Canadian immigration is a tough topic—it will never be as fair, quick or easy as its proponents want it to be. By a significant majority, Canadians want to feel good about the immigration process—but there will always be problems with it, no matter where you are on the political spectrum. So that’s why, sometimes, it’s good to get a fairytale about it. Surprisingly enough, I was familiar with “Peace by Chocolate” well before the film—the eponymous chocolate boxes made their way to my local grocery store, and it was impossible not to glance at the box while eating their content and learn the story of Syrian immigrants fleeing the civil war, being welcomed in Canada and founding their own chocolate company. This is all true. Peace by Chocolate, on the other hand, takes a few liberties with the facts. Slickly dramatizing real events in an audience-friendly format, writer-director Jonathan Keijser blends cross-cultural comedy (as the Syrian family lands in, of all places, snowy Antigonish, Nova Scotia), tolerance melodrama (as the newcomers aren’t necessarily welcome), coming-of-age bildungsroman (as the protagonist is called to decide between taking care of his family or going to medical school), and inspiring business fable (as the company grows from handcrafted chocolate in a small shack to a real business-with-a-factory). Schematic, sure, but it works—this is exactly the film it wants to be, and it fits within a very optimistic Canadian vision of how immigration should work. As proof, I offer Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cameo, re-creating a real-life media event. Cinematically, Peace by Chocolate is as functional as its script—a straightforward delivery of its material without too much fuss. I liked it well enough—but the film is a lot like a box of chocolate: what kind of monster wouldn’t enjoy it?