Inspired by a true story in the family of writer-director Michael Clowater, this poignant yet often very funny film – an audience prizewinner at the Calgary film festival – takes place in a time and place when LGBTQ+ people had precious little opportunity to live their truth. To be more specific, that setting is small-town New Brunswick circa 1970, which is where a grouchy plumber named Weldon (Charlie Creed-Miles) receives a call from the Toronto police to come collect his long-estranged brother Perley (Alan Cumming) lest he face the full consequences of being caught having sex with another man in a public park. What ensues is an uncommonly good-natured kind of road movie as the brothers seek a new understanding of each other, and of the traumatic history they share. The slow-building rapport between Creed-Miles and the always great Cumming is just one of the reasons Clowater’s first feature is so endearing and moving.

Director: Michael Clowater

Cast: Alan Cumming, Charlie Creed-Miles, Clare Coulter, Sprague Grayden, Gray Powell

Language: English

Runtime: 100 minutes

Content advisory: homophobia, violence

MIKAELA BODIN, editor

Swedish editor Mikaela Bodin has over a decade of experience editing for television and feature films. She has cut commercials for major brands, including McDonald’s, Carlsberg, TD Bank, and Tim Hortons., as well as editing music performances for Nile Rodgers, Franz Ferdinand, and Graham Nash.

Michael Clowater

Michael Clowater is a New Brunswick-born filmmaker. His first animated short film (Alfred’s New Dog) played at TIFF kids film festival (formally Sprockets) as well as Interfilm (Berlin), The Toronto Worldwide short film festival, Chicago Int’l Children’s Film festival and showcased at the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum in NYC as part of an exhibit on independent Children’s films. Michael’s TV commercial work has won creative awards worldwide (including Cannes) and has been written about in such publications/ media as the CBC, Adweek and The Guardian. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife, two sons and a gecko named Michaelangelo.