Hatley High

Directed by Phil Price

With Nicolas Wright, Rachelle Lefevre, Nwamiko Madden, James A. Woods and Morgan Kelly

The Canadian teen comedy Hatley High sends up high school sports rituals by placing a most unlikely competitive game at the center of its story: that of chess. Tommy (Nicholas Wright) is a new arrival in his parents' hometown of Hatley, whose mother recently died. He discovers, after the fact, that his mom was once a chess pro and thus a legend in the community. Tommy's chess-fixated peers accept him almost instantly, inferring that he must have inherited his dear mother's skills, but in time Tommy carves out a niche for himself independently of his mom's legacy, and strikes up an enduring romance with Hyacinthe (Rachelle Lefevre) a "chess cheerleader." Two fictional British filmmakers "frame" the tale by filming it for a documentary that they are producing, and thus provide witty, ongoing narration.