111 minutes – Drama, Romance
Language: English
Festival release date: September 11, 2022 – TIFF (World Premiere)
Release date: November 4, 2022 (Toronto)
Production companies: Monkeys & Parrots, Farpoint Films, Middle Child Films
Canadian distributor: LevelFILM

The Swearing Jar is essentially about love, forgiveness, and self-recrimination and centres on Carey (Adelaide Clemens), a high school music teacher and struggling singer-songwriter attracted to a guy named Owen (Douglas Smith) who works at a local bookstore and is a struggling songwriter/guitarist. The complicating factor in the plot is the fact Carey is deeply in love with her husband, Simon (Patrick J. Adams). Their relationship reflects some or maybe all of those things faced by some or maybe all newlyweds. There are secrets, occasional disagreements and sometimes hurtful arguments. Carey, who is pregnant, decides they need to stop swearing before the baby arrives, so she comes up with the idea of a Swearing Jar. Add into the mix Simon’s mother Bev (Kathleen Turner), a mother-in-law seemingly intent on driving a wedge between her son and his wife. Oh yes, there’s still that thing with Owen, who is very attracted to Carey, doesn’t know she is married and meets her after she’s had the baby.

Also see: Northernstars reviews The Swearing Jar.</br/>Also see: Winners at the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards.