Name: JUNKIE RUN
Start: 2026-02-15T15:00:00-05:00
Location: Paradise Theatre

DOORS 2:15
TORONTO PREMIERE
Q&A to follow screening
A DIVE BAR, 7 BARFLIES AND A JUNKIE WITH A BAG OF CASH
A dark comedic chase film centered around a community of misfits at a local dive bar. When the regulars get word that Foggy, a local junkie, is on the run with a bag full of money from a botched drug deal, they each scheme, back stab, and claw at one another in order to be the first person to find Foggy and take the money.
"With a Barton Street strut and a reckless, punk-fueled rush, Junkie Run serves up the chaotic adventure we crave from Kire Paputts’ twisted lens." -automaticjane
“Sometimes frightening and often hilarious, Junkie Run is an over-the-top romp through the hidden parts of Hamilton many of us would rather ignore. With a soundtrack that honours Hamilton’s punk rock roots.” -Graham Rockingham

“Junkie Run is beautifully, entertainingly and artfully imperfect. It makes imperfection an art form. It makes low budget into a quality, not a drawback. All I care about is filmmaking and Kire is the real thing.” -Alan Zweig
"The best movies - when they work, really work, take you by the hand and lead you outside of your self. Especially when viewed in a dark cinema. They function a bit like descriptions of astral travel. You are launched out of your skin and you float into the lives of others.
Canadian writer/director Kire Paputts’ new feature ‘Junkie Run’ does just that - and wonderfully.
This is the fifth feature by Kire I’ve experienced in a cinema. I think this may be my favourite one. It’s at least on par with the luminous first film of his I saw, ‘The Rainbow Kid’.
Describing his approach, the director mentioned one of my favourite movies, ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’. I was privileged to see this glorious farce in it’s original, uncut, 70MM Cinerama screenings. Now, Paputts using that film as a frame of reference and operating on a vastly smaller budget has fashioned a ‘chase picture’. One of his characters sums up the whole thing so aptly as ‘a junkie on the run with a bag of cash’.
What sets this film apart is the loving attention the director gives to his characters. Those who Paputts himself describes as a group of people ‘barely getting by’.
The film is set in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Itself one of the most unique and diverse cities in Canada and probably the world. In it, Jimmy, a Chinese immigrant, runs a greasy spoon haunted and inhabited by the denizens of Hamilton’s East End. A neighbourhood I am personally familiar with. He has captured the ambience of that region admirably.
Here is where the ‘barely getting by’ folks argue, fight, scramble and run because as the screenplay states (paraphrasing) to every soul on these blocks, ‘$20.00 is a lot of money and $100 is a fortune’.
All Jimmy’s customers are so finely etched under Kire’s direction. After a few minutes in you really care about them. Even the most over-the-top or basically unlikeable ones. Because the other thing which makes the film masterful is that despite some vivid and graphic violence, these people make us laugh - a lot. They are an incredible bunch and there’s no judgment here. Only observation. When word comes that one of them has made off with a bag of stolen money, the whole group go on a rampage to find it
Technically, ’Junkie Run’ is beautifully shot, edited and above all - scored. Once again Mr. Paputts has enlisted The Morricone Youth Orchestra from the States to provide some dazzling orchestral underscore. There is also ample use of tracks by local bands. The music is a star in it’s own ‘rite’.
Having spent so much time in Hamilton myself, I saw many familiar faces including one-time owner of Star Records’ Hamilton, Mr. Paul Kobak whose stoic, unflinching presence acts as a kind of Greek Chorus to the action onscreen - both commenting and provoking elements to come. Forgotten Rebels’ alumni, Mickey De Sadist and Chris Houston make brief appearances.
A terrific surprise was the stunningly surreal animation. While the film is mainly a vibrant slice of super-gritty street life, every once in a while the film segues into a kind psychedelic kaleidoscope visually. In a strange turn for film structure where usually the goal is less. In order for the picture to qualify as a feature the director had to flesh out his picture with more. But far from adding mere filler, he included many shots of the city itself. Factories at dawn, skyscapes bathed in dusky sunsets and languid street scenes were included and add immensely to the beauty of the film. While only portraying one side of the complexity that is Hamilton the film nevertheless becomes a generous celebration of the place.
The picture is a treat on so many levels.
Here’s hoping that ‘Junkie Run’ finally finds a bigger audience for the work of Kire Paputts. He is one of our best film-makers and produces extraordinary work under extraordinary budgetary duress.
One of my favourites of the year. I rank it right up there with ‘Eddington’." -SCREENPLAY-CINEMA REVIEWED