This movie tried to be an allegory about the Canadian Indian Residential school system and the problems therein. However the state authorities in the movie are given a convenient excuse for the generally terrible state of things - there's been an apocalyptic war. They are seen providing aid more than brutalizing the populace and the focal aspect of their oppression appears to be insisting that children are to be raised in a sanitary environment.
The kids are also indoctrinated into a form of nationalism, I guess, but the movie makes it look like a small price to pay for the benefits.
There's some hints at a citizen/non-citizen divide, but this is never explored. They simply forgot to make their bad guys look bad. A character even explicitly states that "they" want to take away the free people's "way of life" as an indictment of the authorities, while that way of life is shown to be wretched.
Cognitive dissonance was really my central feeling about the movie, but otherwise it can be mostly described as mediocre. Acting and cinematography is competent, if uninspired. The actual plot is simple and slow - mostly there to examine the setting. The ending is sudden and looks like it was taken out of another, probably better, movie.
The kids are also indoctrinated into a form of nationalism, I guess, but the movie makes it look like a small price to pay for the benefits.
There's some hints at a citizen/non-citizen divide, but this is never explored. They simply forgot to make their bad guys look bad. A character even explicitly states that "they" want to take away the free people's "way of life" as an indictment of the authorities, while that way of life is shown to be wretched.
Cognitive dissonance was really my central feeling about the movie, but otherwise it can be mostly described as mediocre. Acting and cinematography is competent, if uninspired. The actual plot is simple and slow - mostly there to examine the setting. The ending is sudden and looks like it was taken out of another, probably better, movie.