Ocean Ebinger

Turned it off within the first 15 minutes the first time I watched it. After seeing the hype online I decided to give it a real try and ended up watching 4 episodes in one sitting….

A very powerful film. Many reviews reference this movie the idea that it's a "Netflix feature" or that it's anti-catholic "of course because it's Netflix". I want to clarify this for everyone: THIS MOVIE WAS NOT MADE FOR NETFLIX. This movie is based on the book, it premiered at the 2017 Toronto international film festival. It was MEANT to be a straight to tv film but ended up in theaters then onto American Netflix somehow. It is based on the very true and very real events that Indigenous Canadians have faced at the hands of our government. The original author is an Indigenous Canadian from BC - the film is presented from the perspective of someone within the group that faced these atrocities. There is literally no one better to have written this story. I read the book during my first year at university and found myself sobbing at 5 in the morning while finishing it. I had really high hopes for the film and I have to say it didn't disappoint. It's as hard of a watch as the book was a read - and I mean that in the best possible way. It's a deep story with a beautiful ending. While other reviews break down the plot line I'd like to leave that to the watcher to experience. Instead, I'd like to simply warn potential watchers that it is a HEAVY movie. Theres heart wrenching moment after heart wrenching moment. I'm very sensitive to the treatment of Indigenous people and the topic of residential schools and spent over half of this film ugly gasp sobbing. Please don't take that as a deterrent, simply a heads up.