The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

A bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to the town to defend the families, but he discovers that everything is not what it seems.

Director:

Atom Egoyan

Writers:

Russell Banks (novel), Atom Egoyan (screenplay)

Stars:

Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 33 wins & 53 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian Holm	...	Mitchell
Caerthan Banks	...	Zoe
Sarah Polley	...	Nicole
Tom McCamus	...	Sam
Gabrielle Rose	...	Dolores
Alberta Watson	...	Risa
Maury Chaykin	...	Wendell
Stephanie Morgenstern	...	Allison
Kirsten Kieferle	...	Stewardess
Arsinée Khanjian	...	Wanda
Earl Pastko	...	Hartley
Simon Baker	...	Bear
David Hemblen	...	Abbott
Bruce Greenwood	...	Billy
Sarah Rosen Fruitman	...	Jessica

Storyline

A small community is torn apart by a tragic accident which kills most of the town's children. A lawyer visits the victims' parents in order to profit from the tragedy by stirring up their anger and launching a class action suit against anyone they can blame. The community is paralyzed by its anger and cannot let go. All but one young girl, left in a wheelchair after the accident, who finds the courage to lead the way toward healing.

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Plot Keywords:

slut shaming | lawyer | community | school bus | lawsuit | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes courage comes from the most surprising places.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was inspired by the 1989 school bus crash in Alton, Texas.

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Goofs

When Stephens visits the Ottos, and Mr. Otto offers him some tea, we hear a tea kettle whistling but the one we see on the wood stove is not the whistling type, and there is no steam coming from the kettle.

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Quotes

Mitchell Stephens: I can help you.
Billy Ansell: Not unless you can raise the dead.

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Connections

Featured in In the Shadow of Hollywood (2000)

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Soundtracks

Courage
Words and Music by The Tragically Hip
Courtesy of Universal Music/Ball Music, Inc. and Little Smoke Music, Inc.
Performed by The Tragically Hip

User Reviews

Tragic and beautiful masterpiece

The Sweet Hereafter is as tragic, sad and matter-of-fact as movies get, but it's still so very beautiful that it becomes a film that's virtually impossible to forget.

The story makes no secret of the fact what terrible tragedy will happen, right from the outset. A lesser filmmaker than Atom Egoyan would've jumped at the chance to shock the audience with the freak accident that robs the town of Sam Dent of nearly all their children, by telling the story in a linear fashion. Not Egoyan. The story is fragmented, thus enhancing the true point: This is not about the overwhelming power of loss, it is about the overwhelming power of survivor's guilt (nicely represented in Browning's poem The Pied Piper Of Hamelin, which is referred to in the movie). It's all about people who grieve not only for the ones they've lost, but also for themselves, how empty their lives have become because of their tragedies. In focussing on that point, the film refrains from manipulative sentiment (which so many others don't), and presents true and unintrusive emotion, that, in the end, despite all the terror, shines a light of hope, for the sweet hereafter is not only the peaceful afterlife, it's also the peaceful future, the continuation of life...

The performances speak for themselves. Ian Holm and Sarah Polley shine in particular, through nicely subdued and subtle acting. Polley also excels as a fantastic singer-songwriter. The songs in the movie were written and performed all by herself.

Egoyan's direction is simply masterful in its beauty, elegance and evocation.

One of the best films of the 1990s.

10 out of 10.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1997 (Canada)

Also Known As:

De beaux lendemains

Filming Locations:

Merritt, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,149, 12 October 1997

Gross USA:

$3,263,585

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,263,585

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Communications Corporation, Ego Film Arts, Téléfilm Canada

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1