Family dramas are always difficult subjects and can either be rewarding or miss the mark entirely. Thankfully, Gail Maurice (Rosie) pulls off quadruple duty as writer, director, producer, and actor well, and leads Dana Solomon and Derica Lafrance (in their feature debuts) are exceptional and electric, making Maurice’s second feature, Blood Lines, a powerful drama which will leave an everlasting impression.
Blood Lines focuses on Beatrice (Dana Solomon), who is accepting her identity as she meets and finds herself utterly infatuated with Chani (Derica Lafrance) who arrives in the small Métis community looking for her biological family. Beatrice offers to help Chani look for her family family in order to spend more time with her and form a relationship. While this is going on, a collective of older women known as “The Grannies” want Beatrice to repair a different relationship and mend any wounds there. Beatrice has an estranged and difficult relationship with her mother Léonore (Maurice), whose drinking problem caused what appears to be irreparable damage to her relationship with Beatrice.
L-R: Derica Lafrance as Chani and Dana Solomon as Beatrice in BLOOD LINES. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
While there is a lot that occurs during Blood Lines, much of it unresolved trauma and repressed thoughts and expression, the movie carefully balances family relationships, same-sex relationships, and all the complications that come with both utilizing a combination of humor and heart which keeps it from being something too dark and depressing or something light and fluffy to the point where it fails to have an identity all together.
Maurice expertly crafts this story, never truly letting off the breaks and carefully balancing everything to create a world for the audience to submerge themselves in without getting too heavy in the emotional baggage that comes with the general ideology of family dramas. However, her inclusion of the group of The Grannies breaks the developed tension with humor, drowning sorrows, making Blood Lines more of a well-balanced film, but the timing of the breaks seems off at points, the awkwardness pulling the audience away from the cusp of full emotional investment, preventing the ride from being as emotionally devastating as it could be.
All three lead actresses are simply sublime. Solomon is simply electric in her role as Beatrice who is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Her balancing act here is put to the test when Beatrice finds some devastating information, and the way Solomon adjusts her performance and puts it all on the line and is so utterly raw and emotional that it captivates the audience. While Lafrance shines, as well, it is Maurice who steals the spotlight through and through, proving to be a tour de force in her performance.
Blood Lines is about community and family and Gail Maurice blends these two types of bonds to create a powerful drama that misses the mark ever so slightly, landing directly on the outer circle from the bullseye. It is a beautifully powerful film that blends culture and personal choices and reconciliation which will surely sweep away its engaged audience.
Screened during Toronto International Film Festival 2025.
For more information, head to the official Toronto International Film Festival Blood Lines webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
Share this:
Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
Leave a Reply