Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: In “Meadowlarks,” a new family drama now playing in theatres, four Cree siblings are reunited in a week-long retreat in Banff fifty years after having been forcibly separated during Canada’s Sixties Scoop. “We were five little birds in one nest,” says Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), “and they scattered us like the wind scatters meadowlarks.”

CAST: Michael Greyeyes, Carmen Moore, Alex Rice, Michelle Thrush, Lorne Duquette. Directed by Tasha Hubbard.

REVIEW: Based on Tasha Hubbard’s 2017 doc “Birth of a Family,” “Meadowlarks” is an intimate, emotional look at the devastating personal effects and loss of cultural identity that came as a result of the Sixties Scoop.

The film reunites siblings Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), Connie (Carmen Moore), Marianne (Alex Rice), and Gwen (Michelle Thrush), a Cree family separated as babies by the Sixties Scoop, placed in the child welfare system and raised by non-Indigenous families.

Apart for fifty years, they are strangers who share DNA and fragmented memories, but little else. Over the course of a week in Banff they share stories of their lives, past and present. Emotions ebb and flow as they get to know one another after a lifetime of estrangement.

Director Tasha Hubbard, herself a Sixties Scoop survivor, keeps the story simple to highlight the complexity of the situation. Although siblings, these four are very different people, and once the initial “get-to-know-ya” small talk fades away, raw memories surface.

As they ride a rollercoaster of emotions they become closer, closing the gap that has separated them for decades. When camaraderie develops so do vulnerabilities as they talk about their lost childhoods in a way that would be impossible with anyone else. Their trauma isn’t erased, but reconnecting and sharing their experiences leads to a certain kind of comfort.

Fueled by terrific performances, “Meadowlarks” is a hopeful, heartfelt movie, one that suggests that the fabric of family can be mended no matter how frayed.