Loyalties

Something of an IMITATION OF LIFE update set in smalltown Alberta, focusing on the relationship between a rich white woman and her Native employee who come to rely on each other as they struggle with the abusive men in their lives. If the melodramatic climax seems rushed, it does little to detract from the film's exploration of how ties of class, race, blood, gender function under stress. Great performances from Tantoo Cardinal & Tom Jackson as characters who are anything but stereotypes.