Steal Away

Though its epigraph begins with the words “once upon a time,” Clement Virgo’s bold, opulent, and continually surprising sixth feature soon departs from the realm of fairy tales to venture into far more shadowy and treacherous spaces.

It tells the story of a pair of young women the film’s subtitle calls “two princesses.” The first is Fanny (Angourie Rice), a sheltered teenager whose knowledge of the world barely extends beyond the stately manor house belonging to her glamorous and magnanimous mother Florence (Lauren Lee Smith), which is located in a mysterious country that variously evokes occupied Europe, Algiers, and the Antebellum South.

Into her life comes Cécile (Mallori Johnson), a charismatic visitor who’s one of countless people seeking asylum from the conflicts that consume this alternate and highly stylized reality.

The two women’s mutual curiosity sparks a bond that may prove vital to their ability to survive the maelstrom of desires and dangers that surround them — though they are so immersed in sensory pleasures that they struggle to comprehend the truth about their situation. Similarly, the film’s fevered flow of sounds and images may render viewers slow to register its weight as an uncommonly potent allegory about real-life horrors.

Fully capturing the daring mix of tones and textures in Tamara Faith Berger’s screenplay, which recalls the genre-busting stories of Octavia E. Butler and Angela Carter, Virgo’s startling blend of the sociopolitical and psychosexual marks a thrilling departure for a filmmaker who’s long been one of Canada’s best.

JASON ANDERSON

Content advisory: coarse language, horror, mature themes, nudity, sexually suggestive scenes, violence