The Young Arsonists – TIFF 2022

A group of troubled teenage friends squat in an old farmhouse in The Young Arsonists. Nicole Fergison (Maddy Martin) is a teenage girl who is still reeling from the recent death of her brother Shemus (Kyle Meagher). With her friend Veronica (Jenna Warren), the victim of frequent abuse by her father, Nicole begins squatting in an old, foreclosed farmhouse that used to belong to her family. Nicole and Veronica are soon joined at the house by additional friends, Amber (Sadie Rose) and Sara (Madison Baines), and the four use the house as their escape from the outside world.

The Young Arsonists is the debut feature film from writer/director Sheila Pye. Set in rural Canada in the late-1980s, the film tells the story of teenage rebellion and grief. At the centre of the story of The Young Arsonists are the best friends Nicole and Veronica, the latter prone to fits of violence and acts as the de facto leader of their group of friends. This results in the development of a tribalism mentality that rejects all outsiders, particularly the developers planning to tear down the farmhouse.

The Young Arsonists began as an OK film about grief and friendship before going into some VERY DARK places in the final act. This includes a very unnecessary instance of animal death and the fact Veronica essentially turns this group of friends into a cult. While still a perfectly fine film, The Young Arsonists is definitely not a film that will have you leaving happy.