Blue Heron is a 2025 drama film written and directed by Sophy Romvari, in her feature-length film directorial debut. The film, a Canadian-Hungarian co-production, is based in part on Romvari's own childhood and her previous short film Still Processing. It stars Eylul Guven as Sasha, the eight-year-old daughter of a Hungarian immigrant family who relocate to Vancouver Island in the late 1990s while their oldest son Jeremy (Edik Beddoes) displays increasingly dangerous behavioural issues in their new environment. The cast also includes Ádám Tompa and Iringó Réti as Sasha's parents, Liam Serg and Preston Drabble as Sasha's brothers, and Amy Zimmer as adult Sasha.
After winning accolades at international film festivals such as TIFF and Locarno, the film was released theatrically in Canada and the United States in April 2026.
Synopsis A Hungarian immigrant family relocate to Vancouver Island in the late 1990s while they struggle to deal with the oldest child who is displaying increasingly dangerous behavioural issues.
Cast Eylul Guven as Sasha Iringó Réti as Mother Ádám Tompa as Father Edik Beddoes as Jeremy Amy Zimmer as Adult Sasha Liam Serg as Henry Preston Drabble as Felix
Background Described as "semi-autobiographical," the film is based in part on Romvari's own childhood and her previous short film Still Processing.
In an essay for CBC Arts, Romvari described Blue Heron as her "most significant attempt to capture just how fallible memory is."
Production After winning grants from both Telefilm Canada and the National Film Institute Hungary, the film entered production in 2024 in British Columbia.
Blue Heron serves as Romvari's feature-length film directorial debut.
Release
Blue Heron had its world premiere at the 78th Locarno Film Festival on August 8, 2025, as part of the Concorso Cineasti del Presente competition. At Locarno, Romvari won the Swatch First Feature Award, which came with a CHF 15,000 prize.
The film had its Canadian premiere in the Centrepiece program at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where Romvari took home the award for Best Canadian Discovery. It has since screened at dozens of film festivals internationally, including the 44th Vancouver International Film Festival, where it won several awards; the Festival du nouveau cinéma, where it won the Grand Prix; the 56th International Film Festival of India; the Bangkok International Film Festival; and San Sebastián, where it won a Special Mention from the jury. It was also screened in the Kinoscope section of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival in August 2026.
Blue Heron was acquired for commercial distribution in the United States by Janus Films in January 2026. The following month, Blue Fox Entertainment acquired the Canadian distribution rights to the film. The film was subsequently released in the United States and Canada in April 2026.
Reception
Box office Blue Heron has grossed $831,379 in the United States and Canada as of August 2026.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 108 critic reviews of the film are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A masterfully-assembled memory piece that goes a long way towards articulating life-altering grief, Blue Heron is deeply affecting and announces writer-director Sophy Romvari as an artist to watch." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film holds a score of 92 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Variety film critic Guy Lodge praised the film, calling it a "splintered, shattering memory piece." In a review for The Film Stage, Leonardo Gol wrote: "For a director whose projects have always tested the medium’s capacity to conjure and make peace with the specters of one’s past, it feels like the kind of moment Romvari’s been working towards from the start. For a brief, miraculous instant, Sasha’s catharsis is ours too."
For Screen Daily, Nikki Baughan wrote that "Blue Heron blurs the line between fact and fiction in a woozy, laconic way; this is a drama in which perspectives shift, timelines merge and soft-focus sequences are layered with a documentary-style aesthetic. It’s all part of the journey of recollection and discovery for protagonist Sasha – who we see as both a young girl and an adult – and for Romvari, who is using the narrative to unpick her own memories, to get to better grips with her own formative experiences."
The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2025.
During its theatrical release in the United States and Canada, The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "the most acclaimed film of 2026 so far."
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Result Locarno Film Festival August 16, 2025 Golden Leopard – Filmmakers of the Present Blue Heron Swatch First Feature Award Toronto International Film Festival September 14, 2025 Best Canadian Discovery Director's Guild of Canada 2025 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award Vancouver International Film Festival8 October 2025 Horizon Award for Emerging Canadian Director Arbutus Award for Best British Columbia Director Festival du nouveau cinéma 2025 National Competition, Grand Prix for Best Feature Film Toronto Film Critics Association 2025 Rogers Best Canadian Film Best First Feature Vancouver Film Critics Circle 2025 Best Actress in a Canadian Film Iringó Réti Best British Columbia Film Blue HeronBest British Columbia Director Sophy RomvariOne to WatchHong Kong International Film Festival 2026 Firebird Award (World) Blue Heron Best Actor Edik Beddoes Canadian Screen Awards 2026 Best Motion Picture Ryan Bobkin, Sara Wylie, Sophy Romvari Best Director Sophy Romvari Best Supporting Performance in a Drama Film Edik Beddoes Best Original Screenplay Sophy Romvari John Dunning Best First Feature Best Editing Kurt Walker Best Casting in a Film Angela Quinn, Katrin Braga
References
External links
Blue Heron at Locarno Film Festival