Bones of Crows is a gripping indictment of the abuse of indigenous people’s at residential schools all across Canada which hits home because we allows the viewer to feel it on a personal level
It’s the story of Aline Spears and her siblings who are forcibly removed; through threat and other nefarious means by church and local authorities from their home and sent to residential schools where they were subjected to abuse of all kinds.
From writer/director Marie Clements this film is a power condemnation of the abuse of Indigenous peoples like we haven’t seen because we get emotionally invested in the character of Aline from minute one.
As we see her story span generations we see her struggle as a fledgling young musician, to her in WWII where her abilities with her native language are actually seen as an asset and her struggles well after the fact as we see her children and siblings grasp with the realities of what she went through.
Actress Grace Dove carries a good chunk of the film as Aline and really gives the story gravitas in an excellent performance that makes the trauma suffered by indigenous people feel like it’s happened to someone we know, which is what makes the intensity of this story hammer home all the more.
Bones of Crows is a must see because it allows the obvious politics and trauma around this issue to fall away into something that is personal and poignant which is truly what it needs.
- Release Date: 9/10/2022
