The Sweet Hereafter

"There is no such thing as the simple truth."

1997 1h 52m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🔥

98%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.4

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 443🍅98%Rotten Tomatoes●91Metacritic★7.4IMDB · 37,131

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors' and victims' families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. At the same time, one teenage survivor of the accident has to reckon with the loss of innocence brought about by a different kind of damage.

“There is no such thing as the simple truth.”

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Cast

Ian Holm
Mitchell Stephens
Sarah Polley
Nicole Burnell
Tom McCamus
Sam Burnell
Gabrielle Rose
Dolores Driscoll
Alberta Watson
Risa Walker
Caerthan Banks
Zoe Stephens
Maury Chaykin
Wendell Walker
Stephanie Morgenstern
Allison

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Atom Egoyan
Writers: Atom Egoyan
Languages: English
Countries: Canada

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Atom Egoyan, shot by Paul Sarossy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Susan Shipton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Ian Holm and Sarah Polley and Tom McCamus carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There is no such thing as the simple truth.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0120255 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Atom Egoyan directs. Paul Sarossy behind the camera. Mychael Danna scores. Susan Shipton cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Canada. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

129 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Atom Egoyan, shot by Paul Sarossy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Susan Shipton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Ian Holm and Sarah Polley and Tom McCamus carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "There is no such thing as the simple truth.".
7IMDB entry: tt0120255 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 12 themes, including "small town", "canada", "based on novel or book", "suffering".
9Released under 15 different titles around the world.