The Time Thief

The Time Thief is a 2021 Canadian period drama and fantasy film directed by Francis Leclerc, based on the 2009 story by Fred Pellerin of the same name. It stars Jade Charbonneau, Marc Messier, Céline Bonnier, Guillaume Cyr, Émile Proulx-Cloutier, Marie-Ève Beauregard, Pier-Luc Funk, Sonia Cordeau, and Geneviève Schmidt. The film was theatrically released by Les Films Séville on November 19, 2021.

Premise

An illness-worn grandmother tries to convince her 11-year-old grandson that death does not exist. She tells him about the adventures of her youth in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, in 1927, when she had tried to eliminate death in the village.

Cast

Jade Charbonneau as a young Bernadette
* Michèle Deslauriers as an older Bernadette
Marc Messier as Méo, a barber
Céline Bonnier as La Stroop
Guillaume Cyr as Riopel, a blacksmith, and father of Lurette
Émile Proulx-Cloutier as Toussaint Brodeur, a merchant and Jeannette's husband
Marie-Ève Beauregard as Lurette, Riopel's daughter
Pier-Luc Funk
Sonia Cordeau as Jeannette, Brodeur's wife
Geneviève Schmidt as Madame Gélinas
Production

Development

wrote the story L'Arracheuse de temps in 2007 shortly after the death of his father. On March 30, 2016, it was announced that a feature film adaptation of the story had been in the works from the production company Attraction Images. While working on the 2017 film Barefoot at Dawn with director Francis Leclerc, Pellerin wrote part of the initial screenplay for the film. On January 18, 2019, Leclerc revealed that he would direct the film, from a now-completed screenplay written by Pellerin. On April 8, 2019, the film's screenplay was submitted to SODEC, who announced on December 16, 2019, that they would be funding the film.

Filming

Filming for The Time Thief was divided into two filming blocks; the first began on October 13, 2020, in Saint-Armand, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Filming for the first block, which was mainly focused on shooting exterior scenes, continued in areas around the municipality of Montérégie, and concluded on October 30, 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fred Pellerin was not allowed to visit the film's set until October 15, 2020. The second filming block took place in April 2021 in areas around Montreal, with the intentions of shooting the film's interior scenes in a studio.

Release

The Time Thief was theatrically released by Les Films Séville in the Canadian province of Quebec on November 19, 2021.