Beautifully shot on the road in Eastern Canada, Bretten Hannam’s much-garlanded feature debut is a and sensitively observed tale of identity, acceptance and first love.

When the police catch, arrest and jail Link (Phillip Lewitski) and his half-brother Travis (Avery Winters-Anthony) for stealing scrap metal from a derelict warehouse, the pair’s father (Joel Thomas Hynes) flies off the handle – and the teenagers resolve to flee their trailer-park home. On the road, the duo connects with Pasmay (Joshua Odjick), who shares Link’s indigenous roots – and as they search Nova Scotia for Link’s mother, long thought dead but now believed to be alive, Link learns to come to terms with his own complex heritage, racial identity and sexuality. Standout performances from a young cast help Hannam shape this pungent, poignant story.