SDIFF 2025 : Terroir

Three wine connoisseur friends, visiting a vineyard in France for a review for Kirsta’s mothers’ wine ranking magazine, discover a link to their recent past coming back to haunt them. 

Little in this world is as arrogant and condescending, as a wine connoisseur. The kind of person that sits there and debates the best sized goblets so that there’s plenty of room in the glass for the nose, gotta inhale that bouquet; who makes godawful noises whilst swishing wine over every part of their tongue and mouth, and doesn’t even swallow it mind you, no, they pertly spit the main portion of the wine out, some even into buckets specially made for just such a purpose. And heaven forefend an entitled child of a wine connoisseur’s magazine has come to call upon your place of business – the pretentiousness is like tripled. But needs must when the devil demands proper French wine, so make sure your croissant is ready for dipping and let’s get into this! 

So Oliver (John R. Howley), Becca (Naomi Rubin) and Kirsta (Madison Hu) are here at a Madame Laurent’s (Leenya Rideout) French vineyard, going over this years’ wine for the ranking for Kirsta’s mothers’ wine magazine. Only a year previous, they visited the self-same vineyard, and gave it a bad review, along with, well, Oliver having far too much wine to be safe for driving, but it’s fine right? As Olly repeats, “If you’ve only had wine, driving is fine.” 

Which, clearly, it isn’t. But somehow Kirsta and her smug friends are back at Madame Laurents place, tasting the wine and all agreeing that there’s something different to the taste this year, wondering what Laurent’s secret is. As Laurent’s son Pierre (Joao Santos) sharpens his murderous instinct and mom prepares to share her rich wine soil secret rather permanently, we are left to wonder along with Kirsta – how far would you really go for that perfect, absolutely killer, glass of wine? 

Reviewed by Alicia Glass