Steal Away, the latest film from Clement Virgo, marks the lauded writer-director’s first foray into the fantastic. With its fairy-tale elements, Steal Away washes over you with the serenity of a daydream, and burrows into your soul with the slow, steady dread of a Lynchian nightmare. 

Fanny (Angourie Rice) may live a life of privilege, but it’s not always a life of comfort. Her mother Florence (Lauren Lee Smith), provides her daughter with a life of luxury: a rural mansion, fancy clothes, and attentive servants. But at 16 years old, Fanny has reached childhood’s end and struggles to understand the mysteries of womanhood. As her childhood innocence wanes, it’s harder to ignore the casual cruelties she encounters in her daily life.

Florence uses her sizeable estate as a sanctuary for young foreign women fleeing humanitarian crises. When Congolese refugee Cécile (Mallori Johnson) arrives, her presence awakens something inside of Fanny. Smart, confident, and stunningly beautiful, Cécile embodies everything Fanny longs to be. And Cécile moves through life with a sexual swagger that the inexperienced debutante finds intoxicating. 

As the two girls spend time together, their relationship develops a problematic asymmetry. Cécile treats Fanny like a person, while Fanny sees Cécile as something to be consumed. Fanny, jealous and in awe of her housemate’s style, grace, and sexual confidence, starts imitating aspects of Cécile’s persona. As outside threats invade their safehaven, both girls are forced to adapt to the outside world’s harsh realities.

Virgo sets Steal Away in an alternate reality that’s strikingly similar to our own world, yet distinct in such indelible ways. Doing so creates a tonal dissonance that keeps you unmoored, like standing on the deck of a ship in rough seas. Every time you think you have your footing, the ground shifts.

The film takes place in a world where our past, present, and future overlap. Though ostensibly set during modern day, the story feels timeless, as though plucked right out of a legend. The world evokes occupied Europe and the Antebellum South layered with elements of Afrofuturism. Imagine Melville’s Army of Shadows colliding with The Handmaid’s Tale, embellished with a dash of Wakandan fashion.

Taking place outside of time allows the film to address our collective history of colonialism, xenophobia, and sexism without directly addressing old historical wounds. And it delves into white supremacy’s legacy in a coded manner that isn’t scolding or didactic. It’s too nuanced to trigger the anti-woke book-banning mobs who resent the celebration of Black history.

Virgo and his co-screenwriter, Tamara Berger, layer a number of rich thematic concepts into the foundation of their story. You could watch Steal Away five times and come away with new insights after each viewing. Beneath its coming-of-age framework lies a meditation on tribalism, sexual agency, bodily autonomy, and cultural appropriation. 

In today’s polarized climate, we’re so quick to label people as either allies or part of the problem. We’ve collectively lost patience for people who don’t think just like we want them to. In Steal Away, Fanny’s emotional journey makes the case why we shouldn’t close the door on people unlike ourselves. 

Fanny and Cécile’s clashing perspectives reflect how different people can share the same space but still live in different worlds. Fanny grew up on the wrong side of history, blind to the injustices around her, but the seed of empathy was always within her. It just required nurturing.

With Steal Away, Virgo adds another visionary work to his acclaimed ouvré. Powered by two commanding lead performances and realized through striking worldbuilding and production design, it delivers an intimate yet radical coming-of-age story. Timeless, tender, and soul-shaking, the film further cements Virgo as one of Canada’s most dynamic talents and critically vital voices.

Steal Away screened as part of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It hits theatres in Canada on July 17.

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