YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER

SARAH WATTS + MARK SLUTSKY | CANADA | 2022 | 96 MIN | ENGLISH S.-T.F.

It’s the early 90s and Jaime, a transplant from Thunder Bay to Saguenay, is an ordinary teenager sneaking joints in cassette cases. That ordinariness, though, puts her at odds with the Jehovah’s Witness community in which she’s immersed, including with Marike, whose affections toe the line between love and conversion.

Marike (June Laporte) and Jaime (Anwen O’Driscoll) lock eyes across religious gatherings, and it isn’t long before they enter a clandestine romance that tests one another’s tolerance. While hanging out after school and playing Sega Genesis (pun intended), Jaime’s new friend Nate (Hasani Freeman) questions her intentions with the faith while she contemplates Marike’s intentions with her. Is she to be a “sister” in the Truth or something more? Montreal filmmakers Sarah Watts (who spent her gay youth in a Jehovah’s Witness community) and Mark Slutsky show respect and offer insight about the devout culture around Jaime while being open about her own lack of belief. The picturesque Quebec location glistens and ripples, and the film emulates the pace of this locale, slow and rhythmic like the waves and rolling hills. A place where everything, including passion, is a test. 

screening at Cinéma J.A. de Sève only | NOVEMBER 19TH 9.15PM