82 minutes – Comedy
Festival release date: September 13, 2017 (TIFF)
Release date: September 29, 2017 (Toronto)
Canadian distributor: Search Engine Films
Production company: Alyson Richards Productions / Lithium Studios

Irene is 16, overweight, friendless and tired of being a loser. She’s determined that this year is going to be different—Irene is going to become a cheerleader. But when she’s suspended on her first day back at school (the result of a cruel prank) Irene, along with her cruellest bullies, Robbie and Sarah, must endure two weeks of community service at the local retirement home. There Irene befriends a grumpy retired boxer who teaches her that when you get knocked down, you have to get back up again. She assembles a misfit group of seniors and hashes a brilliant plan – if she can’t be a cheerleader, she’ll be the next best thing: a choreographer. She signs the seniors up to audition for her favourite reality show “Dance Crew”. Keeping the plan a secret from the retirement home and her mother, Irene transforms the retirement home from a lifeless community into something surprising, fearless and alive. But what she doesn’t know is that jealous Robbie and Sarah secretly plot their revenge—and they will stop at nothing to kill Irene’s dreams.

Don’t Talk to Irene had its World Premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).