Content Warning: Mentions Indigenous children’s unmarked graves and residential schools
In the opening sequence of Ste. Anne, a lone figure slowly makes her way across a prairie field at dusk. A train whistles in the distance. It’s fall, and foreboding storm clouds have gathered just above the horizon.
We learn that this is Renée (played by filmmaker Rhayne Vermette herself), a Métis woman whose family hasn’t seen or heard from her in four years, including her young daughter Athene (Isabelle d’Eschambault).
Now, without a word of warning or explanation, she has decided to come home.