THE HEIRLOOM, according to several online film synopses, is an existential comedic piece about a couple struggling desperately to become a family. Eric, played by Ben Petrie, a control freak in the grips of an irresistible muse, decides to adopt a traumatized rescue dog. His significant honey, Allie, played by Grace Glowicki, supports his plan to train it.
For those cinephiles who don’t consider themselves TK but want to be in the know, an “existential rom-com” blends lightheartedness and predictable plot lines of a romantic comedy with deep philosophical themes and explorations regarding identity, meaning, and purpose – characteristic of existentialist thought. And so on … and so forth.
Directed by Ben Petrie
Produced by Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Justin Elchakieh
Cinematography by Kelly Jeffery
Music by Casey Manierka-Quaile
Starring: Ben Petrie, Grace Glowicki
Festivals: International Film Festival Rotterdam, Munich Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival and et.al
More Info
Filmmakers, actors, and real-life couple Ben Petrie and Grace Glowicki, according to production notes, moved all the furnishings from their real-life Toronto home into a rented apartment down the street, creating a simulated recreation of their home. Then, they invited a small-crew to spend four weeks filming an improvised reenactment of their most intimate and tortured experiences adopting their traumatized rescue dog during COVID-19 lock downs.
By drawing from their relationship with unusual intimacy, again according to the prod notes, Petrie and Glowicki succeed in capturing a pandemic experience not yet successfully brought to screen: An unvarnished and hilarious true story about the trials and tribulations of love under lock-down, with the added pressure brought on by the arrival of a traumatized rescue dog.
The film brings audiences a level of emotional authenticity and heartfelt hilarity rarely shared outside the intimate confines of a couple’s private life.
The film continues real-life couple Petrie and Glowicki’s ongoing collaboration, known for remarkable and award-winning performances. Glowicki won a 2016 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance in Petrie’s short, HER FRIEND ADAM. They next acted together in Glowicki’s feature-length directorial debut TITO, which won the Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award for Originality at SXSW, and was named “an instant classic of acting” by The New Yorker.
Petrie and Glowicki co-wrote, produced and star in Glowicki’s latest feature DEAR LOVER, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival; and Dusty Mancinelli & Madeleine Sims-Fewer’s HONEYR BUNCH, which premiered at the 2025 Berlinale.THE HEIRLOOM features their most intimate set of performances yet.
Part 2, the Review, Is in the Works
Publisher, Editor, Reviewer Gregg W. Morris