The Maiden

Economical, elliptical and altogether haunting…a film that knows what it’s doing – and surprises us at those moments when it reveals its larger design.

Screen International

"Best new discovery (of Venice): The Maiden by Canadian director Graham Foy, which starts out as a laid-back slacker study but takes a left turn to somewhere eerily dreamlike".

The Guardan (Jonathan Romney)

"Transcendent and organic all at once. While the performances are raw, Foy and cinematographer Kelly Jeffrey blend them seamlessly into an aesthetic that is casually beautiful and elusive…“The Maiden” comes across as a real gift."

Movable Fest

“Striking poignance…Foy asks us to slip into the thought processes of a teenager where time is flexible and can easily fold in on itself…the strongest feeling is one of longing for connection, not just to another human but to the natural landscape, the textures of which are captured beautifully.”

Eye For Film (Uk)

"Foy mixes raw and unpolished performances (enormous praise to Jiménez, Sluiter, and Ness) with a soft and reflective energy, rooted in the enchanted natural environment.
Ultimately, the film proposes a spiritual field beyond the finality of death. It projects an afterlife where we can wander forever, with no rules and no structures: just exploration and love between friends".

Ourculturemag (Uk)

"A memorable piece of filmmaking that drifts into the surreal with its dreamlike images and visionary occasional score"

Filmuforia (Uk)

"An intensely atmospheric meditation on friendship, grief, and both the pains and wonder of being an outsider, The Maiden is a haunting work that lingers".

The Globe and Mail

"A potentially major directorial voice — one that manages to articulate and amplify”

Toronto Star

"Pervaded by a magical realism that puts everything we know into question...all the atmosphere of being a dream..when the credits begin to scroll a mixed feeling of relief and anguish grips the viewer...Not to be missed."

Hot Corn

"Best Canadian Film: The final sequences, when Kyle and Whitney, the two lost teens, meet in a poetic space more in tune with Garcia Marquez’s Macondo than Calgary, are truly remarkable and presage an exciting career for Foy”

classicalfm (Canada)

"Foy’s vision is a formalist one, and he shows a confident hand in making his debut…
The Maiden has its own rhythm and visual language, in which light and darkness, sound and silence dictate mood. Foy has created a beautiful, at times haunting, tale of friendship and grief…”

ICS (International Cinephile Society)

"Pervaded by a magical realism that puts everything we know into question...all the atmosphere of being a dream..when the credits begin to scroll a mixed feeling of relief and anguish grips the viewer...Not to be missed."

Hot Corn (Italy)

"The vision of this first-time director fascinates and intrigues"

Cinematographo (Italy)

"Goes much further than we imagine…This first film is a promising and moving success."

Le Polyester (France)