Vancouver, BC Premiere
November 26 at the Rio Theatre
* with director Kate Kroll and guests in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.
The Vachon family’s influence on professional wrestling is legendary, and Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story narrows that legacy to one of its most compelling figures. Once Gertrude “Trudy” Elizabeth Vachon committed to the ring, she knew she had to stand out. She built the character of Luna—fierce, theatrical, and utterly impossible to ignore—and pushed every button she had to. In an environment that wasn’t built to welcome her, she crafted a persona that looked right at home in a Mad Max wasteland.
The film opens during what many consider wrestling’s most electrifying period: the WWF “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was a time when spectacle often overshadowed sport, and some performers used that fame to pivot into film careers. Luna took a different path. She stayed committed to the craft itself, valuing sportsmanship over the hype.
Vancouver-native director Kate Kroll, drawing on her own experience in the ring as “Calamity Kate,” brings a grounded, insider perspective on how women like Luna navigated an industry that routinely sidelined them. Her lens sharpens the documentary’s look at the inequities behind the curtain and the expectations that shaped women’s roles both in and out of the ring. Kroll also addresses Luna’s struggles with bipolar disorder and substance abuse, presenting these realities with care.
While no documentary can fully capture the weight of those experiences, she acknowledges how mental illness and chronic pain influenced the choices Luna faced. The result is a portrait that recognises both Luna’s vulnerability and her resilience. By focusing on the consequences of untreated pain and systemic pressures, the film avoids sensationalising her hardships and instead highlights the very human cost of the life she lived.
Interviews with her children, friends, and colleagues form the emotional centre of the narrative. Their reflections deepen the film’s examination of how Luna balanced her identities—mother, wife, performer—and how turbulent that balance sometimes became. At home, her mental state could be chaotic; at work, she remained someone who cared deeply for the people around her. Archival interviews say as much through their pauses as their words, and the new conversations shed further light on truths still difficult to face.
Her death in 2010 from a drug overdose is addressed with honesty and compassion, and the shock felt by her family and friends still resonates. Yet even as the documentary acknowledges that loss, it refuses to let tragedy define her. Lunatic stands as a reminder of what Luna embodied: defiance, creativity, and a refusal to shrink herself to fit anyone’s expectations. She carved space in a world that wasn’t designed for her, and in doing so, she helped shape the evolution of women’s wrestling. Her legacy isn’t just remembered; it’s felt every time a performer steps into the ring without apology.
4 Stars out of 5
Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story Trailer
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