A French Canadian road movie, The Mechanics of Borders is about family, secrets, and relationships. Dylan Walsh plays Mathieu, a 19-year old slaughterhouse worker. Sophie Fekete – in her debut screen performance – is his sister, Heidi, who asks him to bring her back home from the USA.
Muted palettes and a slow burn characterise The Mechanics of Borders. Director Hubert Caron-Guay is not afraid to let silence play its part in building the story, so when characters speak, they do so with weight.
As Heidi starts to break through the careful reserve and loneliness Mathieu has built for himself, we start to gain an insight into their sibling dynamic, history, and connection. There is an underlying tension that drips through moments of vulnerability on both sides.
This is a film that offers deep characterization and strong writing (in a screenplay by Caron-Guay and Sophie B Sylvestre), that is both sensitive and provocative.
Viewers looking for action, blatant conflict, or feel-good moments will have to look elsewhere, but discerning audiences will enjoy the chemistry between Walsh and Fekete, two young and gifted performers.
The locations are often full of other people, but The Mechanics of Borders takes care to emphasise the bond and segregation of Mathieu and Heidi from their surroundings. This is a difficult road trip for both: a search for connections and answers.
There is pain on the roads, both physical and metaphorical, along which the pair travels. As observers, we feel an unease in watching them, struggling to find the words to say, keeping each other apart with the tiniest nuance of body language.
There’s a terrible beauty in The Mechanics of Borders. An icy recognition of the lines we cross, and those we can’t get past. The ending may not satisfy all tastes, but life doesn’t present all its moments and memories in neat little boxes.
Mathieu and Heidi will continue their journey, but we have to stop and let them.
The Mechanics of Borders screens at the Cinequest Film Festival on 13 Mar and 15 Mar in its US international premiere.