The Sweet Hereafter

1997
Canada
1h 50min
15

Directed by: Atom Egoyan
Written by: Russell Banks (novel), Atom Egoyan
Cast: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood

When a small community is torn apart by a school bus accident that claims the lives of most of their children, an ambiguous lawyer with family troubles of his own comes to represent them in a compensation case. The film unfolds in a patchwork of flashbacks and set-pieces, but it's Holm's beautifully judged performance that's the bedrock of the film. As a study of helpless grief, it's rarely been bettered.