Through Black Spruce has a mainstream feel that should help it attract a wide audience, and a slow-burning dramatic arc that will pay off for those who give it a chance. But it also delicately touches on a variety of First Nations issues, among them alcoholism, residential schools, poverty and appropriation of identity. Tanaya Beatty stars – and excels – as Annie, a Cree woman from Moosonee, a small town just south of James Bay in Northern Ontario. The missing-woman mystery is a staple of film, but writer Barbara Samuels (TV’s North of 60, Black Harbour) gives it a distinctly First Nations flavour without ever getting too heavy-handed. Through Black Spruce has garnered an unfair share of controversy that has little to do with the story on the screen.

Source: National Post March 29, 2019 16:41 UTC