Film Review – Who Killed the Montreal Expos?

October 21st, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

Who Killed the Montreal Expos? (2025) comes at a peculiar time for me. As of this writing, I just witnessed my beloved Seattle Mariners lose Game 7 of the American League Championship Series – in heartbreaking fashion – to another Canadian baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays. On top of that, Seattle’s NBA team, the Supersonics, were relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, had their name changed to The Thunder and won the NBA championship last year. The notion of the Sonics returning to Seattle is still only a feint dream. To be a sports fan, especially one that has had a team taken away, is to voluntarily live a life of momentary joy followed by long stretches of disappointment and emotional anguish. This documentary affected me in a surprising way. What Montreal fans went through with the Expos, Seattle fans can relate.

Directed by Jean-François Poisson, the documentary traces the factors that – in 2005 – led to the Expos getting uprooted from Montreal and transferred to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals. There are a lot of moving parts that led to this result. Poisson does a good job showcasing how all the dominoes fell one by one. The film is made with passion, anger, and an undying love for a team that – currently – no longer exists. Poisson includes several talking heads, including former players, coaches, fans, and journalists. He even manages to interview executives that many would point the finger to as the responsible parties. Poisson creates a tapestry of perspectives, from those that were on the field, to those in the administrative offices, and those watching on TV at the local bar.

Like any other sports franchise that either goes defunct or relocated, the underlying factor that caused the Expos to leave was money. Poisson makes the case that ownership’s inability to generate revenue was the deciding factor. The editing jumps through time in rapid fire succession, going all the way back to the team’s creation in 1969, and how each owner – Charles Bronfman, Claude Brochu, and Jeffrey Loria – faced difficulties. Much of the struggle was self-inflicted. Despite having legends on the roster – including Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., and Larry Walker – the organization ran into a string of bad circumstances. In 1994, when the Expos had the best record in Major League Baseball, the players’ strike wiped away the potential of a World Series appearance. The lack of government support, a crumbling stadium, trades that shipped away the team’s best players, and shady business practices set up a house of cards that was eventually going to crumble. Loses piled up, attendance dropped, and ownership eventually gave the team to the MLB to manage. All the signs were pointing in the wrong direction.

Two of the more fascinating interviews are with former owner Claude Brochu and former Executive Vice President David Samson. Given that both were at the helm of the Expos organization leading up to their departure, their willingness to talk about their experiences is curious. Of course, both use much of their time deflecting the blame. For Brochu, he argued that he did everything he could to keep the team in Montreal, including creating plans for a new stadium. Unfortunately, those plans failed, and the confidence investors had in him dwindled. David Samson is an even more intriguing figure, since he is the son in law of the man who took over after Brochu left. With an arrogant and cocky demeanor, Samson boasts that a strong will is required to run a professional baseball team. And while he doesn’t deny his involvement with what happened, he is quick to shun the notion that he and Jeffrey Loria came to Quebec with the purpose of moving the team.

Poisson loads the documentary with tons of archival footage – from locker room interviews, press conferences, news broadcasts, etc. – both in English and French-Canadian languages. The information is organized into a kind of countdown toward the inevitable. Each time we see an old news broadcast, the anchors continuously mention the “Expos Saga.” The editing returns to the broadcasts repeatedly, each time the tone more dour than the last. Although there is plenty of energy and enthusiasm throughout, the back half does have a mournful feeling. Once the Expos were bought by the MLB, the white flag was pretty much raised – it was only a matter of time. The years the team played under MLB management was the lowest in the team’s history. One interview described it as “palliative care.” 

Sports has a way of bringing communities together unlike any other event – more so than movies or music concerts. People from all walks of life often find common ground when it comes to supporting their favorite teams, regardless of background, religion, or even political party. Professional organizations become embedded into the culture of a city. They contribute to the very identity of the area and its residents. When a team is tragically taken away – whether it’s the Expos from Montreal, the Sonics from Seattle, the Dodgers from Brooklyn, the Raiders and Athletics from Oakland, etc. – it leaves a gaping hole within that community that lingers almost forever. Poisson directs his film with urgency, hoping that the planets can somehow align so that the Expos can come back from the grave. One diehard Expos fan, Jeremy Filosa, describes how his love for baseball was passed down by his father and in turn he passed that love down to his own son. That is sports at its best. 

In the movie Moneyball (2011), Brad Pitt’s character asks, “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” That sentiment runs all throughout Who Killed the Montreal Expos? Poisson and his team created a documentary that’s pulled right from their hearts. Yes, it is filled with resentment and frustration, and rightfully so. But it is also a love letter to the Expos, a team that – for a short while – brought pure joy to those that followed them. That’s something that can’t ever be taken away. 

Brad Pitt, Charles Bronfman, Claude Brochu, David Samson, Jean-François Poisson, Jeffrey Loria, Jeremy Filosa, Larry Walker, Moneyball, Netflix, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Who Killed the Montreal Expos?