And the Soul of the Rose Went Into My Blood
PEOPLE HOLD ON – directed by Michael Seater (limited spoilers) ⁓
Alycia and Robin
The story is unexpectedly engaging story, but watching it is like being alone at a party full of strangers. One is forced to pick the most entertaining folks to focus on. For me, Robin, the indecisive one (Paula Brancati), Dan the alpha male (Al Mukadam), Freddy the nerd (Jonathan Malen), and (Alycia, the insecure one (Katie Boland) are the main characters. Milquetoasty Matthew (Noah Reid), adventuresome Julia (Ashley Leggat), sensible Darren (Mazin Elsadig), and voluptuous Marley (Chloe Rose) are there to interact revealingly with the main four.
Matthew and Julia
The opening scene could be the start of a horror flick. Eight attractive young people arrive at a remote cabin in the woods for a summer weekend. There were supposed to be only seven, but Dan (Robin’s ex) has brought his new girlfriend Marley, adding one seemingly harmless stranger among close friends who have not seen each other for too long.
Freddy, the owner of the cabin, knew about Dan’s plan, but told no one else. Freddy is in love with Alycia, and was likely preoccupied with that. Freddy is adorable, and brings to mind Willow’s boyfriend Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Matthew writes really nice songs.
Robin and Dan
The interactions between the newly paired, the old flames, and the romantic hopefuls are fascinating, but the thought persists that somewhere, deep in the woods, or at the bottom of that pretty lake, something evil might lurk. Were this a horror film, one might wonder who will the first victims. The first to have sex are Julia and Darren, but they are engaged to be married and so might not be immediately devoured by whatever local horror might be hungry. This causes concern for Alycia and Freddy because they have spontaneous sex after doing mushrooms.
Only three of these people tell us what they do for a living. Marley is an artist, Matthew is a songwriter, and Alycia works at a bar. The rest seem to have left mundane considerations back in the city and never discuss the source of their income. They all drink beer from pastel coloured, tall aluminum cans, so they are not connoisseurs; nor are they health obsessed.
Alycia is on a diet (a symptom of her insecurities). Dan lives in his parent’s basement. Without giving away too much, it is fair to assume that Julia’s family has money.
Will Robin and Dan get back together? Will Alycia be inspired to admit her interest in Freddy? Will Julia and Darren’s engagement survive the weekend? Are any of those questions ultimately relevant? This film is full of surprises, not the least of which is the ending which was quietly spectacular, completely unexpected, and made the whole thing worthwhile.
Director Michael Seater told Charles Trapunski of Scene Creek: “We drew on the fact that we had a ton of old friends, as we all grew up as actors and we wanted to draw on who they were as people and shoot it in a way that gave them a freedom to really make it something natural and authentic so we shot it so they would be overlap, we’d try new things, go off-book, and so it’s a really intimate exploration of your lifelong friendships and questioning whether there really is such a thing…all set against the beautiful backdrop of Northern Ontario and Parry Sound with towering pines and smoky granite.”
Miscellaneous Info
Katie Boland made her directorial debut with the award-winning drama WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER which is based on the 2016 novel by Amy Jones and deals with a crisis precipitated when a respected member of the Parker family literally goes over the falls in a barrel. The film can be streamed on TUBI. YouTube has a trailer.
The title song for PEOPLE HOLD ON was written by Noah Reid and performed in the film by Reid and Brancati, was a Canadian Screen Award nominee.
Also directed by Seater is SADIE’S LAST DAYS ON EARTH, the story of a high school student (Morgan Taylor Campbell) who becomes obsessed with her belief in the approaching apocalypse. It can be streamed on TUBI.
**– Revised. Originally published on 17 January 2017