Underplayed Gems

Backroads (2000)

Backroads poster
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How it feels

In 1970s Ontario, an Indigenous woman kills her abusive husband in self-defense. She is arrested by a racist police officer who rapes her in custody. Her sister, a lawyer from the city, comes home to defend her while a supernatural spirit watches over the community.

tensedarkvisceralslow-burnmelancholicgrittytraumaticemotionally heavy

What happens

Backroads is a Canadian drama film, directed by Shirley Cheechoo and released in 2000. Her narrative feature debut and the first full-length narrative film ever directed by an Indigenous Canadian woman, the film stars Renae Morriseau as Ella Lee Thompson, an indigenous woman living on Manitoulin Island in the 1970s, who is suffering in an abusive marriage to Eric (Tim Sampson). After she kills her husband in self-defense, she is arrested and charged with murder by Larry (Max Martini), a racist police officer who also rapes her while she's in custody, while Ella's sister Grace (Sheila Tousey), a lawyer, returns home from her job in the city to defend Ella. Meanwhile, a supernatural spirit, the Bearwalker, hovers around the community meting out karmic justice. The cast also includes Shirley Cheechoo, Greta Cheechoo, John Tench, Peter Kelly Gaudreault, Georgina Lightning, Michelle Martin, Dennis O'Connor, Heather Rae and Jon Proudstar in supporting roles. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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