Drawn home for the first time in a long time by his father’s birthday, Sam (Elliot Page) finds himself aboard a train out of Toronto hurtling towards a family he hasn’t faced since transitioning four years earlier. Onboard, he makes a chance encounter with an old friend, Katherine (Hillary Baack), and sparks instant chemistry, bringing long dormant feelings to the surface. At home, Sam is welcomed in as a brother and son, but unspoken tensions lace every interaction, as Sam struggles to navigate his family’s clumsy reaction to his transition, and long-festering tensions threaten to sever their relationship.
In his first feature film role since 2017, Elliot Page delivers a powerful and nuanced performance that effortlessly navigates the tumultuous emotional journey of Sam’s visit home. Director Dominic Savage (The Escape) uses improvisation to craft exquisite, small, conversational scenes between family members that renders them with remarkable depth and clarity. The film is an incisive family drama, a rich character study, and proof that Elliot Page is a generational talent.
Community Partner
Elliot Page, Hillary Baack
Canada/UK
2023
Showcase
English
Gender or Sexual Discrimination
At The Park
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Anita Gou, Sam Intili, Nia Vazirani, Matt Jordan Smith, Andrew Frank, Francine Maisler
Producer
Krishnendu Majumdar, Richard Yee, Daniel Bekerman, Chris Yurkovich, Dominic Savage, Elliot Page
Screenwriter
Dominic Savage
Cinematography
Catherine Lutes
Editor
David Charap
Production Design
Joseph Kabbach
Original Music
Dominic Savage, Oliver Coates
Director
Dominic Savage
Dominic Savage is a BAFTA-winning filmmaker with a prolific list of TV credits. Dominic created, wrote and directed three seasons of the award-winning anthology drama series, I Am. Each film has been developed in collaboration with one of Britain’s leading female actors: Season one starred Samantha Morton, Vicky McClure, and Gemma Chan. The second series starred Suranne Jones, Letitia Wright and Lesley Manville. Most recently, Season 3 opened with a feature length film I Am Ruth starring Kate Winslet. It won two BAFTAs (Single Drama and Lead Actress) as well as a Royal Television Society award for Lead Actress.
Filmography: When I Was 12 (2001); Love + Hate (2005); The Escape (2017)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Schindler Space Architect
RM Schindler is now recognized as one of the most important modernist architects of the era, the man who laid the groundwork for what is now considered the epitome of California indoor-outdoor living. This doc sheds light on a previously unsung genius.
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.
Trainspotting
Danny Boyle's blistering movie was a sensation in 1996: a kick in the teeth of old school British kitchen sink realism, it fearlessly transformed the dire circumstances of Edinburgh heroin addicts into an experience by turns exhilarating and devastating.
Crash
Sex drive, David Cronenberg-style. The car-crash fetishists who orbit Cronenberg's metrosexual Toronto (they include James Spader, Holly Hunter, and Deborah Unger) obsessively seek a fusion of metal and flesh... Fender bender as the ultimate orgasm.
Fargo
Have the Coen brothers ever made a more satisfying movie than Fargo? This grisly comedy pits one of cinema's most pure-hearted cops (Frances McDormand's pregnant cop, Marge Gunderson) against the machinations of weak and mercenary men.