We Forgot to Break Up opens with a shot of a quintessential spot in Toronto—the bathroom at Sneaky Dee’s. “If you’re a millennial or Gen X, you know what those bathrooms look like. They’re kind of iconic,” says Karen Knox, the film’s director. For Knox, it was details like these that allowed her to travel back in time to the early 2000s in Toronto, painting a picture of the city’s vibrant music and bar scene at that time. In the film, we see it all through the eyes of The New Normals, an indie rock band of five young misfits on a mission to ignite a musical revolution. 

“When I read the script, I was so blown away by how cool it was, how much it spoke to the nostalgia of Toronto that I love so much, how juicy this beautiful queer love triangle was,” Knox says. “I knew that I had to direct this film.”


In We Forgot To Break Up, Lane Webber stars as Evan, a trans man and lead singer of The New Normals. Evan couldn’t be more ready to leave his small town for the promises of the big city. He and his girlfriend, Isis (who call themselves “the town’s only two queers”) also have a strong artistic connection—she taught him to play guitar, and they wrote the band’s first song together. But when a new member joins the band, Evan finds himself pulled in another direction, both romantically and musically. His journey is further complicated when The New Normals move to Toronto, where everything changes— there’s the endless highs of nightlife, the doldrums of day jobs, and, eventually, the band’s first taste of fame. 

“It was Lane’s essence and who he is as a human being that made me know he was right for the character,” says Knox, who has worked with him on previous projects including the queer softball comedy series Slo Pitch. “He’s incredibly soulful and has a beautiful way of expressing duality that I felt was really important for the character of Evan.”

Completing the love triangle at the centre of the film is June Laporte as Isis, and Daniel Gravelle as the shy guitarist tormented by his love for Evan— while Hallea Jones is hilarious as the band’s dynamic bass player, in a tumultuous relationship with the drummer (Jordan Dawson).

Knox was inspired by landmark music documentaries of the early 2000s, like Ondi Timoner’s Dig!, and was particularly drawn to the found footage that band members would record of themselves and each other. “That, to me, was sort of emblematic and iconic for that time period,” she says.

While most of We Forgot to Break Up is shot in a “beautiful, narrative, cinematic style”, Knox also knew it was essential to include the grittier aesthetic of footage shot on a Sony Handycam. Several of these whirlwind montages punctuate the film, capturing the chaos of the rock n’ roll lifestyle and making you feel like you’re right there with the band on their wildest nights. 

The music, of course, is the heart of We Forgot to Break Up. The film features an electric, all-Canadian soundtrack, with a mix of original songs and classics from artists that defined the era. Singer-songwriter Torquil Campbell from Montreal indie-rock band Stars contributed the tracks that The New Normals perform in the film, while songs from Peaches, Gentleman Reg, and The Hidden Cameras complete the soundtrack.

“All these amazing Canadian artists said yes and let us create this banging tribute to this very specific time period,” says Knox. “They’re all from between 1999 and 2004, so every single song is definitively within that era.”

For Knox, who arrived in Toronto in 2009, We Forgot to Break Up captures the magic of what life in the city used to be. The film really is a love letter to Toronto and this specific moment in its music history, including many beloved venues and local hotspots. “Massey Hall is in it, Free Times Cafe, which I worked at as a bartender for five years when I first arrived in Toronto, the El Mocambo,” Knox says. “I’m nostalgic for the grittiness that I think Toronto is losing a little bit. I love this city so much, but also, please protect your music institutions. Protect music venues and protect culture.”

We Forgot to Break Up is screening March 15 at TIFF, followed by a theatrical run at Carlton Cinema beginning March 16. It will also be available on VOD platforms April 15.