Rhymes for Young Ghouls
It’s 1976 on the Red Crow Mi’kmaq reserve, and 15-year-old Aila (Jacobs) is the weed princess of her community. Hustling drugs with her uncle Burner, she sells enough dope to pay a “truancy tax” to Popper, the sadistic “Indian agent” who runs St. Dymphna’s Residential School.
It’s a tough life, but she’s making it work. That is, until the precarious balance of her world is threatened by her father’s return from prison, and the theft of her drug money.
Part fable, part small-town drama, Rhymes for Young Ghouls is a richly imaginative and striking drama about growing up during a very dark time in Canada’s treatment of Indigenous people.
“A savvy [Indigenous] genre film with a strong, beautiful and ingenious heroine whose courage helps right an injustice.” — Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail
Staff Pick:
"An intense and unapologetic film about residential school like no other, this film is sure to change the way you think about Canadian-Indigenous relations both past and present. Required viewing for all Canadians (who can stomach it)." —Melissa
Director(s):
Jeff Barnaby
Writer(s):
Jeff Barnaby
Producer(s):
Justine Whyte, Aisling Chin-Yee, John Christou
Cast:
Glen Gould, Brandon Oakes, Devery Jacobs, Roseanne Supernault
Genre(s):
Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Language(s):
English
Subtitles:
English, French
Closed Captioning:
English
Region:
Rhymes for Young Ghouls is filmed and set in Quebec. Jeff Barnaby is from Ontario.