The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
- Starring:
- Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, (more)
- Director(s):
- Atom Egoyan
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
- Category:
- Drama, Independent Films
Member Rating
My RatingTheatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
Atom Egoyan's haunting adaptation of the Russell Banks novel The Sweet Hereafter was the Canadian filmmaker's most successful film to date, taking home a Special Grand Jury Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival and scoring a pair of Academy Award nominations, including Best Director. Restructured to fit Egoyan's signature mosaic narrative style, the story concerns the cultural aftershocks which tear apart a small British Columbia town in the wake of a school-bus accident which leaves a number of local children dead. Ian Holm stars as Mitchell Stephens, a big-city lawyer who arrives in the interest of uniting the survivors to initiate a lawsuit; his maneuvering only drives the community further apart, reopening old wounds and jeopardizing any hopes of emotional recovery. Like so many of Egoyan's features, The Sweet Hereafter is a serious and painfully honest exploration of family grief; no character is immune from the sense of utter devastation which grips the film, not even the attorney, whose interests are in part motivated by his own remorse over the fate of his daughter, an HIV-positive drug addict. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 116 mins
Complete Cast:
- Ian Holm - Mitchell Stephens
- Bruce Greenwood - Billy Ansell
- Arsinée Khanjian - Wanda Otto
- Maury Chaykin - Wendell Walker
- Sarah Polley - Nicole Burnell
- Gabrielle Rose - Dolores Driscoll
- Alberta Watson - Risa Walker
- Tom McCamus - Sam Burnell
- Director(s):
- Atom Egoyan
- Writer(s):
- Atom Egoyan
- Producer(s):
- Camelia Frieberg, Atom Egoyan
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Sexual Situations, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Brief Nudity)
- Categories:
- Independent Films, Drama
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 1997 - Cannes Film Festival - FIPRESCI Award
- 1997 - Cannes Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Director
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Editing
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Cinematography
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound Editing
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound Editing
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound Editing
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound Editing
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Orignal Score
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Actor
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Sound Editing
- 1997 - Genie Awards - Best Picture
- 1997 - Independent Spirit Awards - Best Foreign Film
- 1997 - National Board of Review - Best Ensemble Acting
- 1997 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Picture (Runner-up)
- 1997 - Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Canadian Film
- 1997 - Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Picture
- 1997 - Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Actress - Runner-up
- 1997 - Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Director
- 1997 - Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Actor
