112 minutes – Drama
Language: English
Release date: October 10, 1997
Production companies: Ego Film Arts
Canadian distributor: Alliance Communications
U.S. distributor: Fine Line Features

Based on the novel by Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter recounts the events leading up to and following a school bus accident that kills fourteen children. The story follows the families whose lives irrevocably change, and a big-city lawyer (Ian Holm) who shows up in the community hoping to sign people up for a class-action lawsuit. In the ensuing atmosphere of suspicion, guilt, and doubt, a surviving teenager (Sarah Polley) manages to regain her strength and dignity, and by telling a lie, reunites the community, and drives the lawyer from the town. Atom Egoyan’s excellent adaptation of Banks’ complex tale of guilt and redemption is told in a Rashomon-like fashion. The cast is seamlessly perfect, and Holm’s central performance as the deeply flawed lawyer with a smouldering intelligence holds the screen with a magnetic core.

The Sweet Hereafter won the Grand Prix at Cannes and was named Best Picture at the 1998 Genie Awards.
UPDATE: It was announced in August 2024 that a 4K restoration of The Sweet Hereafter would screen at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The above still and the poster were scanned from originals in the Northernstars™ Collection.