On Sept. 17 the world premiere of Yaga by Kat Sandler occurred at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I happened to be lucky enough to be in the theatre to see it.
Yaga is a Crave Original mystery television series starring Hudson Williams, Noah Reid, Clark Backo and Carrie-Anne Moss. It follows two detectives played by Reid and Backo investigating the strange disappearance of an extremely wealthy college student.
It’s humorous, sexy, thrilling, and incredibly intriguing. It’s set to premiere on Crave Oct. 23 and I am on the edge of my seat waiting for it.
Rushing for yaga
I mainly came to the premiere of Yaga because Hudson Williams would be making an appearance. I could not pass up the opportunity to see the Heated Rivalry star in the flesh. Unfortunately tickets to the premiere sold out almost instantly with resale prices going for $200+, so my friends and I committed to waiting in the Rush line for tickets.
“Rushing” for a TIFF premiere entails lining up outside of the venue with hopes of a last minute chance of tickets. Typically these premieres/screenings are sold out, so those waiting in the rush line only get in if there’s any empty seats remaining.
The kicker is, there’s no guarantee you’ll get in the theatre.
As someone who has never attended a movie premiere before, this was absolutely a daunting experience. Typically, I’d show up to the movies about ten minutes before, ensuring I get my popcorn and plop myself down in my local theatre’s reclining seats.
But for Yaga, I arrived nine hours before and was luckily within the first 10 people in line for this premiere. I’d like to think that my years of queuing for concerts prepared me for this moment.
The time of the premiere finally rolls around, and the TIFF employees begin to let the people in front of us in.
Suddenly, it was our turn. After nine long, draining hours queuing in the busy streets of Toronto, Life was brought back into my body and I was overjoyed for my friends and I. Truly, it was all worth it.
We almost skipped our way into the theatre where three empty seats in a row were waiting for my friends & I as Kat Sandler began her pre-show speech.
a Brief review
It’s been quite a few days since the premiere, and it’s been living in my head rent free. Yaga somehow has managed to take what I love about various films and incorporate it into one body of work.
The entirety of Yaga was filmed in British Columbia, giving it a very similar feel to Twilight — and dare I say — the first season of Riverdale. It’s very dark and moody, incorporating muted colour palettes and a foggy atmosphere that’s mysteriously and intentionally lit.
Despite this, the show is rather hilarious, perfectly balancing the tense mystery of the missing person with a much needed cathartic relief. There’s also a party scene in the second episode that is very reminiscent of Euphoria and Saltburn — which in my opinion is the best way to illustrate a party scene in film.
This scene also served to greatly contrast the regular life these college students live with the supernatural mystery looming near. Think of it like Twin Peaks, but a little bit more horny.
“I clearly really wanted it to feel a little bit like a gritty 90s detective movie like Seven, and I wanted to have those … fairytale elements like the Princess Bride, and a little bit of that yummy slutty pulp from Saltburn…”
Kat Sandler at the Yaga World Premiere, Sept. 2026
The opening scene of the show (which can be seen in the official sneak peek) introduces us to our protagonists Carson (Backo), and Rapp (Reid) who have been assigned to the case of finding missing college student Henry Park (Williams). Carson is caught by her Sargent reading “fairy smut”, and once introduced to Rapp, appears standoffish and reluctant to work with him. Carson and her coworkers introduce us to Rapp with the sentiment that he’s a private investigator and not an actual detective who must’ve cost a fortune.
On that note, Rapp has a dramatic entrance, flying in on a helicopter — only to then trip and fall on some stairs and harming his aura. Rapp reminds me of Logan Huntzberger from Gilmore Girls. He’s flirty, charming, smart, and just enough of a douchebag that you can’t help but roll your eyes and laugh at the things he says.
Carson and Rapp briefly discuss the missing persons case of Henry Park, a rich college student who has a lot of secrets. With this introduction, the audience can already gather so much information about the characters and the storyline to follow. Carson’s reserved and immediately established dislike for Rapp — due to his unofficial status as a detective — creates an interesting dynamic with Rapp’s cheekiness and aloof nature.
This perfectly establishes their good cop bad cop dynamic, maybe even setting up an enemies to friends arc… or even lovers?! Is it too early to wish this turns into an enemies to lovers situation? Their dynamic is very similar to Amy Santiago and Jake Peralta from Brooklyn 99, so it felt familiar but reimagined with a touch of mystery and witchiness.
Hudson Williams plays not one… but two characters. He takes on the daunting roles of both Logan and Henry who are not related, but look exactly the same. I’m assuming this will be a plot point later in the show (tune back in Oct. 23). Williams does this in such an incredible way that you forget Hudson doesn’t have a secret twin, like how people thought Lindsey Lohan had one after The Parent Trap.
Henry is a rich heir who took in Logan as a roommate because he looks exactly like him. Logan introduces himself as less wealthy than Henry and only at the same school on scholarship, but very grateful to have Henry in his life. Logan is very sketchy, but he’s also silly in a nerdy way that I found it to be quite difficult to form an opinion on him in the beginning.
When creating a new show, I think it’s very important to have well established characters, which Yaga obviously excels at. But, it’s the writing and overall flow of the story that captivated me the most.
Kat Sandler did an amazing job with the teleplay and giving the audience just enough clues to set up the rest of the mystery, while also not being so obvious. It’s so important with mysteries to not explicitly give away the clues and to instead allude to them.
One of my favourite books is A Good Girls Guide To Murder and when it was adapted to a Netflix show I was saddened that the thoughtfulness of the book’s mystery was extremely watered down. The books gave so many subtle clues that transferred horribly on screen, to the point where it felt like the show was yelling its clues to you.
It’s also important to note that the show is hot. Rapp is a very flirty character and at any chance he gets he will flirt with the nearest person (which in turn, pisses Carson off). The on screen intimacy scenes are not just there for the purpose of being sexy, they serve to enhance the story. Sometimes sex scenes don’t really add much to the plot and are an addition for the appeal of sex being a selling factor, but the sensual nature of the show integrates phenomenally to the mystery and thrilling nature surrounding Yaga.
I feel like I keep harping on the humour of Yaga, but it truly is the cherry on top. I really wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did during the premiere since I was blinded by the dark and moody allure of the trailer, but it’s a total treat. You’ll mostly be laughing at Rapp since he serves as the comedic relief, the jokes are so tasteful and tailored to his character that they come out so naturally.
As someone who’s favourite movies mainly consist of Adam Sandler, humour is so important to me and I’m so glad all of the jokes were delivered.
why yaga felt so inspiring
Yaga is entirely Canadian. Canadian written, produced, directed with a Canadian cast. It’s overall been a big year for Canadian TV and shows filmed in Canada with Heated Rivalry, Sterling Point, Adults, Overcompensating, Off Campus, and now Yaga soon to be available to the public.
There are only so many pieces of Canadian film that get the love it deserves and to know that it’s doable to have an entirely Canadian crew create something so incredible left me feeling very patriotic. Although Canada does have a film scene, it’s way smaller than other countries and difficult to break into with high demand and low projects to work on, so it’s vital that these opportunities keep getting given to Canadians. They’ve proven they deserve it and are more than capable of creating media that makes waves.
I saw the premiere with friends who are aspiring film students, and to see the hope in their faces that it’s possible to achieve their dreams brought me so much joy. As we were walking out of the theatre one of them said “I hope that’s us one day”.
So beyond Yaga being a great new show, it is also a great inspiration to young, Canadian women just making it up the ladder that their dreams can be achieved as well.