Dir. Graham Foy
2022, Canada, 117 min
A perfect summer day ends in tragedy, weaving a cosmic connection between three suburban teenagers. Best friends Colton and Kyle float the river, trade dreams, and spray-paint in the local ravine. Like the boys, Whitney explores the ravine, seeking solace by writing and drawing in her diary. But when her best friend abandons her, Whitney disappears. The kids’ lives swirl with natural wonder and beauty, but darkness and death loom not far behind. The discovery of Whitney’s diary transports us to a mirror world. A magical ravine. A paranormal encounter. The return of a dead black cat. Is this a dream? The afterlife? Once deeply connected, are we ever really alone?
The Maiden is concerned with more intimate, smaller moments in time within the larger continuum of people’s lives.
– Greg Nussen, Slant Magazine
Starts off feeling like a sketchbook piece of fragmented realism, but becomes increasingly dream-like; and soon after it flips halfway to reveal itself as a diptych, we come to realise that it’s a much more ambitious piece than it at first appears.
– Jonathan Romney, Screen International
