Review of The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, directed by Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Maija Tailfeathers

There was a hot minute when I had always seen this movie on my Netflix tab as something recommended for me to watch, but because I never knew what it was or who had made it, I had ignored it for so long.

It was when I was doing research for an article I was writing over at MovieWeb on indigenous Canadian directors and movies they’ve made that I realized I was coming across the title of the same movie I had seen on Netflix so many times.

And when I opened up my Netflix account later that night, taking a break from my work by watching a movie or two before getting back into it, there it was.

And there was a little notification attached to it saying it was leaving at the end of the month, so I pressed play immediately.

What a gorgeous film this truly is, and this, along with the article I was writing, inspired me to dig deeper into the world of indigenous filmmakers and writers.

I took a postcolonialism class through the prism of Native American history not long after, and I think my life has changed since then, especially when it comes to the way I view things.

Onwards with the review!

Two Indigenous women in completely different situations meet for the first time.

We begin this movie by establishing its two protagonists. Rosie, who is Kwakwaka’wakw, lives with her boyfriend and his mother, and she’s pregnant.

However, her boyfriend is violent and abusive, which makes this living situation less than ideal for her in the long run. Other other protagonist is Áila, who is Blackfoot and Sámi, and she is going to get an IUD inserted when she meets Rosie.

Áila leaves her appointment and spots Rosie wandering the streets alone in the rain, barefoot, and full of bruises.

As it turns out, she has just left behind her boyfriend, who is at the other end of the street screaming at her.

Áila decides to help her out and move Rosie away from the situation, then offers her the chance to come to her apartment for a bit before solving what might be the solution for her in the long run.

The two women head to Áila’s apartment, and Rosie is shy, not wanting to give her clothes to Áila to dry. When she’s in the bathroom changing, she takes Áila’s anxiety medication and wallet.

But as the two start talking, Rosie reveals that she was taken out of foster care, and refuses to let Áila call the police on her boyfriend.

However, Áila is concerned and thinks that Rosie should go to a women’s shelter instead of returning back home to her boyfriend’s, at least for the night. Rosie eventually caves and agrees to go to a safe house.

While they’re in the cab there, Rosie tells the driver they are sisters, and that Áila is going to rehab for a drinking problem.

She then tells a story about their father dying. When Rosie gets out of the car for her stop, Áila follows a hunch and decides to go inside. She witnesses Rosie selling her anxiety medication, and she confronts Rosie.

Obviously, she doesn’t like that and accuses Áila of looking down on someone like her, and when they reach the safe house, Áila realizes her wallet vanished. Rosie pays for the cab.

They enter the safe house, where Rosie describes the situation she was in and how she refuses to go with her grandparents.

The people running the safe house tell Rosie she’s welcome to stay as long as she needs, but after spending time in the bathroom, Rosie decides to go to her boyfriend and walks back on what she said to them before.

Áila is frustrated with her, and they share a taxi back to the apartment. As Rosie gets out, Áila tells her she will be a good mother, and Rosie tells Áila she will be one, too.

Overall Thoughts

This is a movie about the connection between the two main characters, and them being Indigenous women dealing with separate (but similar in some ways) issues makes it even more powerful.

Someone described it to me afterwards as being thoughtful and full of so much tenderness, and I really do agree with that statement and now use it to describe the movie.

Told mainly through long takes and poetic ways of speaking and looking, I thought that this was such a well done movie.

Sure, it’s not perfect, but nothing is—especially the lives of its characters. I’m glad I watched this one in the end though.

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