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Scene from Guidance
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Guidance (2014)

Guidance (2014), directed by Pat Mills, starring Pat Mills and Zahra Bentham.

09/04/2014 BR Comedy 1h 23m

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Synopsis

Fabricating credentials to score a last-ditch job as a high school guidance counsellor, a boozing, drug-addled former child star becomes an improbable hit with his students by dispensing the worst advice possible, in this hilarious reprobate comedy from writer-director-star Pat Mills.

  • Daniel GrantCinematography
  • Pat MillsDirector, Screenplay
  • Bryan AtkinsonEditing
  • Alyson RichardsProducer

About the film

Guidance is a Canadian dark comedy film, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival on September 5, 2014, as part of the Discovery program.

The full-length directorial debut of Pat Mills, the film stars Mills as David Gold, a down on his luck former child star who fabricates his credentials to take a job as a high school guidance counsellor. An unrecovered alcoholic and drug addict troubled by his faded success and in deep denial about both his closeted gay sexuality and his health following a skin cancer diagnosis, he becomes unexpectedly popular with the students after his habit of introducing them to his own deeply unhealthy coping mechanisms actually helps many of them solve their own problems.

The film's cast also includes Kevin Hanchard, Alex Ozerov, Zahra Bentham, Jen Goodhue, Maria Vacratsis, Eleanor Zichy and Allison Hossack. It has been picked up by Strand Releasing for distribution in the United States.

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Guidance is a Canadian dark comedy film, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival on September 5, 2014, as part of the Discovery program.

The full-length directorial debut of Pat Mills, the film stars Mills as David Gold, a down on his luck former child star who fabricates his credentials to take a job as a high school guidance counsellor. An unrecovered alcoholic and drug addict troubled by his faded success and in deep denial about both his closeted gay sexuality and his health following a skin cancer diagnosis, he becomes unexpectedly popular with the students after his habit of introducing them to his own deeply unhealthy coping mechanisms actually helps many of them solve their own problems.

The film's cast also includes Kevin Hanchard, Alex Ozerov, Zahra Bentham, Jen Goodhue, Maria Vacratsis, Eleanor Zichy and Allison Hossack. It has been picked up by Strand Releasing for distribution in the United States.

Background

Mills, a former child actor who appeared on the television series You Can't Do That on Television in the 1980s, drew inspiration both from the troubled history of many child actors and from a desire to subvert the conventions of the stereotypical coming out narrative. He describes David Gold as an "alter ego" who faces some of the same insecurities that Mills had dealt with in his own life, but has much more dysfunctional ways of coping with them.

Release

Guidance has received positive reviews from critics upon its release. IndieWire called it "a must see and a moving laugh-out-loud romp from start to finish". Variety gave the film a positive review, stating that it was a "delightful debut" and "The modest pic's laughs get bigger as it goes along, and so does its surprising warmth". The Los Angeles Times called it "a creative hat-trick of wildly amusing proportions". Allmovie wrote "the writer-director's premiere effort announces him as a major new onscreen talent and a fresh and welcome comedic voice." It was reviewed as The New York Times Critics' Pick upon its release. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 88% based on 16 reviews.

References

External links

Guidance at IMDb

Text from Guidance (film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidance_(film)

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What is Guidance about?

Guidance: Fabricating credentials to score a last-ditch job as a high school guidance counsellor, a boozing, drug-addled former child star becomes an improbable hit with his students by dispensing the worst advice possible, in this hilarious reprobate comedy from writer-director-star Pat Mills.

Who directed Guidance?

Guidance was directed by Pat Mills in 2014.

Who stars in Guidance?

The cast of Guidance includes Pat Mills, Zahra Bentham, Kevin Hanchard, Tracey Hoyt and David Tompa.

How long is Guidance?

Guidance runs for 83 minutes, or 1h23.

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Page updated on 09/17/2026.

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Scene from Guidance