Canadian filmmaker Ingrid Veninger helmed this small intimate drama involving two very different teenage girls whose lives intertwine over the course of a summer. Bea (Charlotte Salisbury) is a socially awkward Toronto resident in an unhappy family environment. When her father inherits a diner in a resort area, Bea gets a chance to be away from the city and her overbearing mother. Initially unable to connect with local girls, Bea meets Kate (Lucinda Armstrong Hall), who has a brash personality and turbulent domestic life. Indeed, Kate’s mentally disturbed older brother and her endlessly agitated mother seem frighteningly out of place in the placid countryside setting. The girls’ friendship begins to blossom beyond comradeship, with Kate helping (and sometimes forcing) the more naïve Bea to discover her true self. Veninger’s screenplay unfortunately often feels stilted and incomplete, with the male characters particularly poorly sketched and often cartoonish in their extreme behavior. And while the performances by Salisbury and Hall help elevate the material, the story ultimately falls short. Not a necessary purchase. (P. Hall)
Porcupine Lake
Breaking Glass, 84 min., not rated, DVD: $24.99 Volume 33, Issue 6
Porcupine Lake
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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