The Maiden

In this exceptional debut feature, a supernatural discovery transfigures two teenagers’ world of graffiti, grief and suburban exploration.

Teenage outsiders Colton and Kyle live in the suburbs of Calgary. When they’re not swimming in the local river, they’re skateboarding through empty construction sites, prattling away or daring each other with risky acts – until one act of adolescent defiance changes their lives forever. After one of them discovers a deceased classmate’s diary, it becomes clear their fates are intertwined, and we learn more about these damaged kids who struggle with isolation and loss in ways they rarely speak about out loud.

Hauntingly shot on 16mm with a talented cast of non-professional actors, The Maiden is a melancholic, dreamy vision of adolescent liminality reminiscent of Gus Van Sant and Stand by Me, while its elliptical, atmospheric quality calls to mind Apichatpong Weerasethakul. At once familiar and ambitiously singular, first-time feature director Graham Foy’s unconventional coming-of-age drama ponders youth, meaning and the afterlife, and will leave audiences in a teenage trance.