Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Bruce Greenwood | ... | Dr. Toby Greene | |
Xavier Dolan | ... | Michael Aleen | |
Carrie-Anne Moss | ... | Olivia | |
Guy Nadon | ... | Dr. Craig Jones | |
Colm Feore | ... | Dr. James Lawrence | |
Catherine Keener | ... | Nurse Susan Peterson | |
Gianna Corbisiero | ... | Florence Da Costa | |
Cindy Sampson | ... | Christelle | |
Larry Day | ... | Sergeant Taylor | |
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Melody Godin-Cormier | ... | Amy Greene |
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Mark Donker | ... | Jakobus Aleen (as Marc Donker) |
Matt Holland | ... | Bruce | |
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Enrique Pérez-Mesa | ... | Marcus |
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Ethan Bolduc | ... | Michael, 5 Years Old |
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Germano Santana | ... | Michael, 7 Years Old |
It's January, 1966 at St. Christina's Psychiatric Hospital in Northwestern Ontario. Dr. Toby Greene and Nurse Susan Peterson are individually being interviewed by Dr. Craig Jones, one of the hospital's administrators, about the incident that occurred just before Christmas, the day that their colleague, Dr. James Lawrence, inexplicably did not show up for work. As Dr. Lawrence disappeared the day before during a session with one of his regular patients, a young man named Michael Aleen, the belief among some is that Michael may have had something to do with Dr. Lawrence's disappearance. That day, Dr. Greene took over Dr. Lawrence's patient-load, which included a session with Michael to try and discover if he indeed had some nefarious role in Dr. Lawrence's disappearance. Dr. Greene did not know Michael at all, and was unable to read his case file before meeting with Michael. Regardless, Dr. Greene believed he could read Michael and glean as much from his lies as from his truths. ... Written by Huggo
Xavier Dolan carries this movie start to finish. And the ending is what this story is all about!
Dolan as Michael Aleen is brilliant in creating this character that is so compelling and deceitful he fools Dr. Green and nurse Petersen and the viewer into thinking he has the information they are seeking on Dr. Lawrence. What Dr. Green and nurse Petersen and the viewer do not realize is that Michael has one goal on this Christmas eve and thanks to an oversight by Dr. Green, Michael achieves his goal. And that is when we learn why he is in this mental hospital because his presents there is never really clearly defined throughout this story.
What a film! Xavier Dolan deserves more credit for his acting and directing. He is an overlooked talent that hopefully will be a big name in the movie world. But unfortunately real talent seldom makes a splash in Hollywood.