The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
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The Sweet Hereafter Movie Review
The Sweet Hereafter is a 1997 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Ian Holm. It’s one very toxic, immensely overrated movie.
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“You’d make a good poker player, kid“
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A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors’ and victims’ families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. This movie is often cited among the greatest films that Canada has ever produced, but I wholeheartedly disagree with this assessment as I find its intentions deeply problematic.
On the surface, its premise is ripe for an excellent exploration of grief and how tragedy can impact people and especially smaller communities, and although the movie did explore that to a degree, it also went above and beyond to state that life is ultimately meaningless. Yes, in more than a couple of conversations we see not existentialism, but pure, unadulterated nihilism, the kind that I will continue to vehemently oppose.
There is this one sequence where Ian Holm’s character reminisces about a spider bite that almost killed his daughter and how she is now a drug addict. The point here is that had she not survived in the first place, it wouldn’t have made any difference for this man as he will lose her daughter either way.
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This type of viewpoint is not just wrong, but also dangerous to inflict on your viewers, and even more dangerous was the fact that all of these critics went to support this type of movie that wallowed in the characters’ misery while never including any respite or hope whatsoever. And that is the problem with this movie in a nutshell – I have no problem with depressing, cold movies, but they need to have a point. This one has none.
The Sweet Hereafter is beautifully scored with an interesting mixture of old-fashioned and more modern music incorporated. The cinematography is also fantastic, making great use of its snowy Canadian setting. The acting performances are also terrific with Ian Holm delivering one of his best works to date and Sarah Polley impressing in a smaller, but important role.
But the problem here was that Atom Egoyan still failed to elevate this source material with more cinematic elements as the book really wasn’t suited for the film treatment, which is evident through countless long conversations and monologuing. The pacing is also glacially slow and the movie’s coldness was difficult to take. It’s a well made film, but one that left me feeling nothing, which was maybe the point, but I despise that point altogether.
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The Sweet Hereafter is often cited among the greatest Canadian movies of all time. I wholeheartedly disagree with that assessment. This drama is wonderfully scored, beautifully shot and very well performed by its talented cast with Ian Holm and Sarah Polley being the standouts. It’s a very well made movie, but one that is not only wrong, but also dangerous in the pure, unadulterated nihilism that it tries to instill in its audience. I have no problem with cold, depressing stories, but those films still need to have some sort of respite, purpose or hope included in the end and not just wallow in their characters’ misery. This one has none of those things, which made it a deeply toxic excursion into sheer nothingness.
My Rating – 3
This is the 10th film in my American Cinema Marathon where I will watch one film from each American country every day. Next up is 🇸🇻.
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#1. This movie was nominated for two Oscars, which ones?
Select all that apply:
