Blood Lines’ potential to be a rich, informative movie about Métis culture, love, and family — featuring dialogue in the Michif language, which has only about 1,130 speakers worldwide, including director and star Gail Maurice — is undermined by unfortunate clichés and a plot twist that just doesn’t land.
The story is about Beatrice (Dana Solomon), a Métis woman in an unnamed rural Canadian town. She’s a gas station clerk by day and a journalist by night—one who’s always looking for a story. She believes she’s found the perfect piece with the arrival of city girl, Chani (Derica Lyn Lafrance), an adoptee searching for her birth family. Amidst falling in love with this mysterious outsider, Beatrice must also deal with the return of her mysterious, absentee mother.
There are so many moving parts in Blood Lines that Maurice gamely tries to intertwine, but in doing so, the individual points become muddied and underdeveloped. The main characters in the three ongoing narratives aren’t given much space to truly blossom, either, with their depth only demonstrated through exposition and pointed dialogue.
Beatrice and Chani fall in love over just a few days, and their relationship feels hastily built. A cinematic montage of the pair riding on horseback and frolicking through meadows is all we see of their budding romance. No clear cataclysm deepens their relationship, and there’s a true lack of common ground from the get-go. In fact, their struggles are almost directly opposing: Beatrice runs from her alcoholic mother’s efforts to mend their strained relationship, while Chani craves and searches for parental love, easily forgiving years of abandonment. Each woman believes ‘the grass is always greener’, but fails to see that the other side is currently occupied by their partner and happiness is equally as elusive for them.
Though the film is clearly attempting some sincere storytelling, its use of familiar tropes doesn’t do it any favours. At a small scale, they show up when Beatrice walks into a diner and asks for ‘the usual, while Chani tells the country folk she’s from ‘the city.’ In the larger, overarching plot elements, audiences are tipped off to a cancer diagnosis with a suspicious, foreboding cough. As a result, Blood Lines can feel at times like a soap opera disguised as a serious drama. In the hands of more experienced younger actors, it may have avoided some of its less subtle emotional moments, but that’s unfortunately not the case here.
The movie highlights important conflicts (addiction, parental abandonment, cultural alienation) that are lifelong, serious battles–particularly for Indigenous nations. But it solves these deeply personal struggles in what feels like too short a time. After two acts of resentment – and presumably many off-screen years – Beatrice forgives her mother after a speedy heart-to-heart. The characters use familiar sentiments like ‘I thought about you every day’ and ‘all I ever wanted was your love,’ but the film misses the chance to provide any real analysis of this situation. While it seems to be enough to settle Beatrice’s trauma, it’s not enough for viewers to sense a real resolution.
Sometimes, a film that lacks a sturdy plot can be forgiven if it features truly exceptional technical filmmaking. Things like creative cinematography, memorable colour palettes, or spectacular set design can act as a saving grace. Unfortunately, though competent, these elements are not impressive enough here to provide that extra lift. In the romantic scenes, it feels as if Maurice is aiming for something different — something cinematic. An intentional floating effect, communicating that indescribable feeling of falling in love, but it doesn’t quite land. That said, the lighting throughout is well done, both nice and mellow – bringing to mind a familiar and specific time of year and place.
Finally, there is the white elephant in the room: a plot twist that comes out of nowhere and feels largely unearned. The surprise arrives halfway through Act Two and overshadows all of the potentially important themes of the narrative. It’s a twist that is rather predictable, too. Unfortunately, once the big reveal occurs, the film’s serious, melodramatic tone feels strangely comical, and any of the well-meaning messages and other storylines fall by the wayside.
Blood Lines has truly good bones — and some truly good intentions — but too much gristle. It is determined to tackle incredibly pertinent issues like discrimination against Indigenous families, cultural estrangement, and even the complexities of romantic love. Yet the plot only briefly touches on these points, leaving audiences with a real sense of missed opportunity. While this second feature feels like a misstep for Maurice overall, there is serious storytelling potential here that could be resolved with a stronger script. More Métis voices in cinema can only be a positive step in the right direction.
