Loyalties 1986

Lily Sutton, Susan Wooldridge, is an upper-class Englishwoman whose orderly life is about to be tested by a move to Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada. She travels with her husband David Sutton, Kenneth Welsh, and their three children to join him while he works as a doctor. Their eldest son, Nicholas Sutton, Jeffrey Smith, is expected to arrive from England later in the year. The family’s arrival opens a quiet, observant drama about belonging, memory, and the complex ties that bind people across class and country.

David greets them with a practiced warmth, but there are undercurrents he keeps private. Into this life steps Rosanne Ladouceur, Tantoo Cardinal, a young bar waitress who is the victim of a brutal assault in town. Her injury and its consequences connect the Suttons to the Ladouceur family in ways neither anticipated.

To help Lily at home and with the children, Rosanne begins working for the Suttons. As the two women navigate their different backgrounds and shared motherhood, their bond deepens even as tension simmers beneath the surface. Eddy, Tom Jackson, Rosanne’s partner, oscillates between charm and volatility, hinting at trouble to come.

At a community barbecue, Lily starts to warm to some of the town’s faces while David remains wary of their social circle. He cautions Lily not to get too close to families with ties to Britain, a warning that underscores his protective, secretive stance. Meanwhile, the two couples discuss family history and the burden of the past, with Lily revealing insecurities about her own mother and her place in this new community.

Rosanne’s life is intertwined with Lily’s in other ways as the families share the Suttons’ beach and home routines. Lily looks forward to the return of her eldest son, Nicholas Sutton, from England, while Leona, Rosanne’s daughter, Diane Debassige, is asked to babysit so Lily can slip away for a birthday drinks. The mood shifts dramatically when David returns early; he approaches Leona, who is underage, and an assault unfolds in a terrifying moment of abuse and power. Lily and Rosanne come home to find the danger, and the room fills with fear and accusation.

Lily and Rosanne confront the consequences as the moment reverberates through their families. Lily realizes she cannot ignore the danger any longer and reports the incident, while Rosanne returns with a gun, intent on stopping the violence. Lily intervenes, striking Rosanne with a glass and taking the weapon. The police arrive to inform Rosanne that Lily has accused David of assaulting Leona, though Lily doubts the official system will believe her. She makes the painful decision to leave David, and Rosanne welcomes Lily and the children to stay with her, cementing a tenuous new support network born from crisis and resilience. Robert Sutton, Christopher Barrington-Leigh, Lily’s youngest son, who had been struggling with the upheaval and the school gossip, remains part of this shifting family landscape as new boundaries and loyalties are drawn in the wake of the storm.