Cinema Travelogue

Image: Courtesy of TIFF

Meadowlarks follows a group of long-separated siblings who, in attempting to reconnect and rediscover their familial roots, go on a trip to spend time with each other. The group consists of 3 sisters and 1 brother, with an additional brother refusing to join the retreat. The keyword is rebuilding connections, and the possibility of such is complicated by the fact that these siblings have all reached middle age and beyond, hindering their ability to reshape their already moulded identities. Friction arises among the emotions when characters admit their deficiencies to reclaim their roles within a family that has been dissipated for decades. For instance, the big brother, played by Michael Greyeyes, delivers a heart-wrenching monologue regarding his fear of not being a competent brother who can be there to console and guide her sisters. The film, through personal accounts, grants past injustices with a present tense through reflections of how childhood trauma can carry well into one’s adulthood without resolution.

During the siblings’ trip, one of them remarks how they are only visiting tourist traps that have no connection with their ancestral roots. The film’s biggest downfall is analogous to this comment, in how it fails to establish any formal choices that would distinguish itself from the norm, anything that differs from the standard product from both TV and movies nowadays. Namely, the use of a shallow focus lens in both interior and exterior scenes. A film with all of its heart, but it does not know how to unlock it.