The second feature from director Gail Maurice (ROSIE, TIFF ’22) is a singular film: a Métis same-sex romance led by actor Dana Solomon, who is a revelation.
A search for family and reconnection drives this pastoral drama, the second feature from director Gail Maurice (ROSIE, TIFF ’22).
Blood Lines is a lesbian romance wrapped up in a celebration of Métis culture — with dialogue in the Michif language, which has only about 1,130 speakers in the world, including Maurice — and centres around an upcoming Métis Day festival.
Storyteller and store clerk Beatrice (Dana Solomon) is completely taken by a new woman who arrives in her Métis community looking to find her biological family. Beatrice decides to help Chani (Derica Lafrance) in order to spend more time with her.
Meanwhile, a chorus of older women, collectively referred to as “The Grannies,” try to get Beatrice to mend things with her mom, Léonore (played by director Maurice). Léonore’s past drinking problem had soured their relationship and Beatrice is reluctant to repair it, no matter how many years her mom has been sober.
Solomon is a striking discovery, conveying so much in this role of a disgruntled daughter who has mostly buried her feelings, while The Grannies usher in lighter, funnier moments.
Blood Lines is a singular film — a Métis same-sex romance — with an ending that will leave audiences talking.
Content advisory: sexually suggestive scenes
Screenings
Scotiabank 9
Scotiabank 4
TIFF Lightbox 3
Scotiabank 5