The Sweet Hereafter

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

Nov 21 1997 R 1h 52m
Drama

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.

Plot

A small community is torn apart by a tragic accident which kills most of the town's children. A lawyer visits the victims' parents in order to profit from the tragedy by stirring up their anger and launching a class action suit against anyone they can blame. The community is paralyzed by its anger and cannot let go. All but one young girl, left in a wheelchair after the accident, who finds the courage to lead the way toward healing.

Written by

Russell Banks, Atom Egoyan

Directed by

Atom Egoyan

Cast

Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Canada

Production Companies

Ego Film Arts, Fine Line Features, Alliance Communications

Languages

English

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 34 wins & 56 nominations total

Trailers
Sweet Hereafter Trailer
Featurettes
Atom Egoyan & Sarah Polley Celebrate THE SWEET HEREAFTER | TIFF 2024
Scores
# of Votes
38,077
Average Rating
7.4 out of 10
Metascore
91
Popularity
NA