It would seem there exists no shortage of stories encompassing Canada’s population of Indigenous peoples, with 2024 alone bringing about such documentaries as “Sugarcane” and “Missing From Fire Trail Road,” but with “Meadowlarks,” director Tasha Hubbard turns the camera from the narrative of her 2017 effort “Birth of a Family” with a feature based on the latter’s topic but with a scripted flourish. “Meadowlarks, “which originally shared the same title as “Birth of a Family,” may follow a topic objectively somewhat less horrific than the other films mentioned, but nonetheless manages to pack in emotion with a well-acted ensemble and intimate setting as much as a character as the film’s four leads.
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The Sixties Scoop, although an unseen plot device, does set the film’s events in motion, or rather, it did, albeit decades earlier. This particular period of time saw authorities given the power to remove Indigenous children from their families and place them into foster homes, with the eventual purpose being adoption. “Meadowlarks” follows four siblings, Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), Connie (Carmen Moore), Marianne (Alex Rice), and Gwen (Michelle Thrush), along with the mostly offscreen George (Lorne Duquette), as they reunite for the first time in Banff for a weekend of presumed bonding. Now well into their 50s, each family member has followed their own respective paths through life, from children (even an impending grandchild, in Anthony’s case) to growing up in an entirely different country complete with matching accent (Belgium, in Marianne’s case); will this time together be enough to unpack a lifetime of separation and the seeds of trauma planted as a result?
Alternating between a beautiful rental home just outside downtown Banff, where the newly gathered siblings exchange gifts in the form of, perhaps most notably, matching hockey jerseys, and walks around the surrounding area alongside a brief trip into town, the film possesses an intimate feel; the sparse cast allows each ample time to dive into their activities over the past 50+ years, even if the occasional monologue threatens to trend towards the overly sentimental; Gwen, in particular, is likely the most guilty in this regard. Anthony and Marianne, meanwhile, share some of the film’s more touching moments, following a scene early on when the two unexpectedly meet during Marianne’s morning run. At the same time, Anthony enjoys a walk, lost in the sounds rushing through his headphones of traditional Cree music.
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After a subsequent moment when an acrophobic Connie is unable to cross a Skybridge without the support of her siblings, Anthony can’t help but tearfully muse over his ultimate purpose in his 56 years of life; through her own tears, Marianne reminds him that, as Connie used him as a fixed point on the bridge stomaintain focus, he was “her finish line. “It’s a line that comes up again, and can’t help but radiate throughout the small group.
During a trip into town, a visit to a local market sees Marianne meet elder Alma (Theda NewBreast), from whom a pair of feather earrings are purchased and an inquiry as to Marianne’s heritage, no doubt spurred by her Belgium accent, prompts Alma to invite the four siblings to meet her husband Simon (Russell Badger) and participate in a traditional ceremony soon after. While the film doesn’t begin to hold back when exploring Cree culture, it also never overwhelms, allowing the journeys of this particular family to propel the momentum. Yet, Hubbard’s style hardly allows for a lapse in energy or the desire to check on the remaining runtime; the balance found works well, revealing a simple look into a reunion years overdue and where things go from there.
Any shortcomings are few. “Meadowlarks” owes as much to the powerhouse acting of its four leads as it does to the beautifully shot portions of Banff and the family dynamic captured within. The Sixties Scoop remains a dark, profoundly difficult time in Canada’s Indigenous history, but through films such as this, proof exists that something wonderful can emerge someday [B+]
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