Until Branches Bend

April 8 screening with director Sophie Jarvis and actor Antoine DesRochers in attendance, followed by a Q&A moderated by filmmaker Mathieu Denis

In writer-director Sophie Jarvis’ compelling debut, set in the seemingly peaceful Okanagan, a distraught cannery worker discovers an invasive insect that could threaten the livelihood of her entire town. Robin (2016 TIFF Rising Star Grace Glowicki) works as a grader for a cannery. When she discovers a peach that has been burrowed into by a beetle, she alerts her boss (Lochlyn Munro, Riverdale), who insists it’s probably nothing. But when her curiosity gets the best of her, it sets in motion a chain reaction that jeopardizes the economic stability of her town — as well as her social standing within it. Meanwhile, there is another discovery: an unwanted pregnancy from an illicit affair. Robin defends her decision to draw attention to the potential insect threat, and, in the process, she alienates herself from her coworkers as well as her younger sister, Laney (Alexandra Roberts), who has her sights set on a different life altogether. (TIFF)