Still the Water: Forgiveness on ice as P.E.I. plays itself in sibling drama

By Linda Barnard

Rating: B

There’s refuge and reckoning in the church of hockey for the MacAulay brothers in Canadian writer-director Susan Rodgers’ Still the Water.

Like so many places in Canada, the arena is the heart of the small Prince Edward Island community of Malpeque Bay, where P.E.I native Rodgers sets her story about estranged siblings scarred by family trauma.

Middle brother Jordie MacAulay (Ry Barrett of Neverlost) is the kid who hit the quasi big time, playing semi-pro hockey in Alberta. He’s got a reputation as a set-jawed goon who deals with his demons on the ice. 

Ry Barrett plays a goon gone home in the hockey-themed family drama Still the Water.

After a vicious check injures a player, Jordie is sent packing. Broke and disgraced, he reluctantly returns home to P.E.I. in an aging pickup, four battered hockey sticks and a gear bag his only luggage. 

Elder brother Nicky (Colin Price) grudgingly finds Jordie a place to stay. He isn’t happy about the surprise reunion or the fact Jordie still manages to be a hometown hero despite his failings. There’s plenty of resentment towards his younger brother, compounded by jealousy that soon has every reason for escalating.

Nicky also has his own problems, including a troubled marriage. Hardly a surprise, considering he’s having an affair with his neighbour Abby (Christina McInulty), an aspiring singer-songwriter who is tied to a devastating loss. Is it brazen or stupid to be messing around within steps of his own front door? Nicky’s wife Alice (Sherri-Lee Pike) can hardly miss what’s going on, an act of cruelty on her husband’s part. 

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

Youngest brother Noah (Spencer Graham) is the goofy peacemaker, suggesting that helping Nicky and their dad in the family fishing boat-building business could help Jordie find purpose and a paycheque. It’s not an easy sell. The MacAulay brothers are united by the childhood pain of their mother’s death and memories of their abusive father’s furious alcoholic rages.  

Dad has put the bottle down and a weekly family Sunday brunch has replaced late-night boozing. Jordie gets back on the ice, joining the local Ice Fox hockey team. It’s clear Nicky is ready to do some score settling before they even exit the dressing room.

Thanks to director of photography Christopher Ball, P.E.I. plays itself beautifully onscreen — swinging from cold and remote to travelogue-style gorgeous, setting mood and tone. He makes the most of both the community arena (one character rightfully likens it to a church) and ocean-side setting, especially a key scene where the brothers crew a lobster fishing boat. The pleasing score by Chris Corrigan adds to the atmosphere, aided by songwriters and performers from Atlantic Canada.

Rodgers has some rough spots with her dramatic feature debut, most notably with dialogue and story flow. But she shows a good feel for building tension onscreen, conveying emotional turmoil by speeding up footage or muffling sound. Barrett and Price are rock solid as the brothers who are unable to get past old wounds. 

They constantly try to chase down the “MacAulay Magic” that once defined them as powerhouse players who dominated on a long-ago championship team. Rodgers has created familiar and relatable characters despite dialogue that occasionally slips into melodrama.

Still the Water. Written, produced and directed by Susan Rodgers. Starring Ry Barrett, Colin Price, Christina McInulty and Spencer Graham. Available in digital and on demand on April 27.