An exceptional leading performance from Nina Kiri breathes vibrant life into Out Standing, a biopic recounting the struggles faced by Captain Sandra Perron, Canada’s first female infantry officer.
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Born into a military family that bounced around the country, Perron always wants to serve her country, but she’d rather be doing it on the frontlines instead of behind a desk. After serving several years in logistics, Perron finally gets the chance to prove herself physically and mentally ready for combat in 1991, as she’s sent with several other women to enter basic training at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick. Where others faltered under the methods and tactics used by the base’s hardened drill instructor (skillfully played by Vincent Leclerc), Perron thrived, despite being the victim of relentless hazing and sexualization from some of her peers. Not long after a mission in Croatia, Perron exits the military suddenly, catching the attention of an military investigator (Enrico Colantoni), who suspects her superior crossed a line. Perron maintains that it wasn’t the bad behaviour at Gagetown that prompted her early retirement, and that the worst thing she experienced in the military happened well before she arrived in New Brunswick.
Director and co-writer Mélanie Charbonneau sticks to a standard biographical template with Out Standing (working from Perron’s memoir Out Standing in the Field), but the approach is respectful, layered, and sound. By approaching the material from Perron’s point of view that she never wanted to stand out from other members of the infantry, Out Standing becomes a much more interesting movie than if it were solely focused on advocacy. Charbonneau does paint the military as a cesspool of toxic masculinity that doesn’t take kindly to outsiders or new ideas, but equally shows the impassioned willpower of Perron, who won’t be denied from the traditional boys club. Perron doesn’t want to stick it to anybody. She just wants to serve.
Viewers unaware of Perron’s story will get an inside view of how difficult it was to be a woman in the military circa 1991 (and still is today for many), but they’ll be glued to their seats by Kiri’s gutsy leading performance. Exhibiting a perfect balance of strength, vulnerability, and anger, Kiri does well by their director and the film’s subject. It’s hard to distill a person’s life down to a single performance, but Kiri puts in a tremendous amount of effort to make Out Standing a top notch biopic.
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 – 5:30 pm – Scotiabank Theatre 1
Thursday, September 11, 2025 – 11:00 am – Scotiabank Theatre 14
Out Standing is scheduled to open in Canadian theatres on Friday, September 26, 2025.
