Bleak but sometimes beautiful, the performance-driven feature debut is meatier than its slender plot might suggest, with a strong sense of place and an unsentimental frankness about conditions many filmmakers would milk for sympathy.
There's not enough artistic merit in Kathleen Hepburn's film to make all its dourness worthwhile, but Henderson is excellent, and the scenes describing simple moments of compassion are poignant.
Hepburn doesn't demand that her characters conform to norms of sacrifice and redemption, preferring to follow Jamie and Judy's meandering, unhurried journey to cognizance and mutual appreciation.
Henderson completely immerses herself in the character, emerging with a striking performance that gives Hepburn support to create an unusual examination of frustration in the wilds of Canada.
The film becomes a journey of trials and tribulations with as much inspirational grace as crippling resentment. For every kindness comes an explosion of rage or embarrassment.
