More Canada represent in Austin! After not being able to see it at TIFF, Vancouver and even the Victoria Film Festival, I finally caught up with Sophie Jarvis’ movie UNTIL BRANCHES BEND at SxSW Film & TV this year. The movie has one final screening on Friday and if you are still in town…you know what to do.
ABOUT: Robin lives with her sister Laney in the idyllic orchard town of Montague. While at work at the fruit packing house, she finds a insect that she believes to be invasive. When her boss Dennis brushes away her concerns, Robin goes public with her finding. The reaction is swift: the factory shuts down, the farms are placed under quarantine, and the majority of the people in Montague find themselves unemployed with Robin to blame. Meanwhile, Robin has been struggling to get an abortion. Unable to take control of her own body, she devotes herself entirely to finding proof that the bug she found was real. The parallel between these two invasions becomes clear as she loses herself in her obsession.
JASON’S REACTION: A strong, British Columbia shot indie that has a LOT to connections to current pandemic culture and small town life, UNTIL BRANCHES BAND stars Grace Glowicki (no stranger to SxSW with as an award winner with TITO a few years back) as a woman who discovers a potential threat with a piece of fruit at a factory and the town reaction to the factory closure, along with being pregnant at the same time. Where this movie goes is rather surprising and of course I don’t want to delve into spoiler territory, but I just loved how filmmaker Sophia Jarvis uses her limited budget and runs with it to not only be visually powerful in its final act but also makes great use of its setting and characters. It also entirely revolves around the wonderful talents of Grace Glowicki who should be a much bigger movie star as she is always so mesmerizing to watch with her big eyes and expressions (check her out in Jordan Canning’s movie SUCK IT UP if you get a chance). I have missed UNTIL BRANCHES BEND at so many festivals so it’s great to catch up with it off of my home base, and also great to see Canadian features as always at SxSW.
This film and many others like it will be showing at South By Southwest taking place March 10-19. For more information point your browser to www.sxsw.com!