Falling Angels 2003

Set in the first days of 1970 in an Ontario suburb, the Field family’s fragile peace is shattered by the death of Mary Field, Miranda Richardson. The story unfolds through looping timelines and flashbacks that span a decade, opening and closing with the water of Niagara Falls while the main action concentrates on the fall and winter of 1969 and the funeral that follows. A long-buried tragedy—the death of their first-born, three-month-old Jimmy—casts a spectral shadow over the house, its full truth never spoken aloud and hinted at only by a single newspaper clipping Mary keeps in her purse, later discovered by the adolescent daughters who sift through memories to understand what happened.

The household is steered by Jim Field, Callum Keith Rennie, a man formed by military discipline who forces order at every turn. He built a backyard bomb shelter and treats the family as if they’re always preparing for some unseen test, insisting his daughters stay under constant watch. By trade he sells used cars and sustains appearances for the neighbors with a practiced smile, yet beneath the surface he drinks heavily and cheats on Mary. Despite this, there’s an unsettling, almost protective undertone toward his wife, a paradox that keeps the family tethered to a fragile grip on reality. Mary, a former dancer, has slipped into apathy and alcohol, a catatonic presence perched on the living room couch, her life framed by a coffee cup forever filled with whiskey and the televisions’ flicker that consoles or consumes her depending on the day.

The three teenage girls respond in distinct ways to the crushing weight of their home life. Norma Field, Monté Gagné, the eldest, carries the most responsibility. Quiet, reserved, and selfless, she shoulders most of the domestic duties and quietly keeps the memory of Jimmy alive while pressing for answers about the hidden truth. Her diligence isn’t devoid of small temptations; when she forms a tentative friendship with a neighbor girl, she allows a spark of genuine feeling to enter her carefully managed world. Norma’s quest is not only to keep the household intact but to illuminate the mystery that society has long overlooked.

Lou Field, Katharine Isabelle, the middle daughter, fights for autonomy and dares to speak back to her father. Her love for her mother remains strong even as she detests the weakness she perceives in the family’s dynamic. Lou channels her longing for freedom into fantasies of rebellion, testing boundaries and flirting with danger as she searches for something authentic beyond the roles imposed on her by her father and by expectation.

Sandy Field, Kristin Adams, the youngest, embodies a different ideal of femininity—an earnest, almost naive desire to become a perfect woman. She pursues romance with a grown man, an older, married shoe salesman, and her world expands in a way that leads to a complicated, awkward encounter with the man’s twin brother. This affair exposes Sandy to the harsh realities of adult sexuality and culminates in an unexpected pregnancy, a revelation that compounds the family’s fragile balance and forces new reckonings.

The narrative builds through small, intimate events, accumulating toward a long, decisive New Year’s Eve. On this night, a dramatic admission about Jimmy’s death shatters the Fields’ carefully curated façade of normalcy. The film presents a moment of reckoning that leaves the future uncertain, inviting viewers to consider whether the family can ever reconstruct authentic bonds or if the weight of truth will forever alter their path. The ending deliberately remains open, a quiet invitation to imagine the possibilities for each daughter and for Jim and Mary as they confront the consequences of a past that could no longer be contained.