Homelessness, alcoholism and government bureaucracy haunt the title character of Aberdeen in this uneven First Nations Canadian debut.
Directors: Ryan Cooper & Eva Thomas
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 83′
TIFF Screening: September 8, 2024
Release Date: TBA
There is a refreshing bluntness to this debut film from First Nations writer-directors Ryan Cooper and Eva Thomas. After a brief prologue depicting the seemingly simpler time of her childhood, we are thrown directly into the chaos of Aberdeen Spence’s adult life, setting the propulsive tone of the rest of the film. With powerhouse indigenous actor Gail Maurice in the title role, this brave if uneven indie pulls no punches.
When Aberdeen loses her IDs while getting arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct for the umpteenth time, she can’t imagine what a world of hell this simple mistake will bring her. With an estranged daughter and a dying brother (Ryan Black), it soon becomes clear that she is her grandchildren’s only hope for a familial connection. Not only that, with them currently in the care of white foster parents, she fears she may also be their sole remaining link to their Peguis culture.
The film’s smartest move is hinging its plot around the loss of Aberdeen’s identity cards and the bureaucratic nightmare this brings. The system is arbitrary and unforgiving, sending the protagonist back and forth between the government buildings of Winnipeg – at one point we learn that the office where locals can apply for proof of indigenous status changes location every week. Without her official documents, Aberdeen cannot secure her family’s future, and the film becomes a question of identity in both a literal and spiritual sense.
Aberdeen is an alcoholic, and much of the film sees Maurice portray her fragile state with a ferocious physicality. When her drunken antics devolve into tirades about her people’s land being stolen, there’s a glimpse of the historical inequality that has contributed to her current circumstances. The tonal opposite of Maurice’s performance comes from Black, whose Boyd is always on hand to bail Aberdeen out and get her back on track. His gentle performance is the film’s highlight.
More of this quiet nuance would be welcome in the film’s script, which can’t decide whether to follow the realist or melodrama route. It is almost relentlessly bleak, its characters engaging in a series of shouting matches and little else. When comic relief arrives, usually in the form of Bill Merasty’s witty but one-note Alfred, the tonal clash jars.
Jessie Wicklund’s work as cinematographer shows flashes of brilliance; a recurring frontal shot of multiple performers, including the young and old Aberdeen, is a nice motif. At times though, a lack of appropriate lighting and awkward blocking expose the early-career status of the filmmakers.
Despite its full-throttle approach, this effort from two emerging First Nations filmmakers shows their potential in its most tender moments. Regretfully, these scenes can’t quite through the noise in a film that too often descends into soap opera. Aberdeen is a bold but flawed debut.
Aberdeen was screened at TIFF on September 8, 2024. Read our list of films to watch at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival and our review of Nightbitch!
