A 30-year-old woman (Evan Rachel Wood) embarks on an intimate yet ultimately manipulative relationship with a 16-year-old runaway (former TIFF rising star Julia Sarah Stone) in the highly anticipated feature debut from Montreal-based photographers Carlos and Jason Sanchez.
Laura (Evan Rachel Wood) works as a house cleaner for her father's company but her personal life is not so pristine. Rough around the edges, looking for love in all the wrong places, her heartbreaking behaviour points to hardships of the past.
One day on the job, in yet another house on the outskirts of the drab city she lives in, Laura meets 16-year-old Eva (Julia Sarah Stone), a quiet teenager unhappy with her disciplined life. In Eva, Laura rediscovers an innocent tenderness. In Laura, Eva finds a thrilling rebel who can bring her into unknown territories. The mutual attraction soon morphs into obsession as Laura convinces Eva to run away and secretly come live with her, perilously raising the stakes for the young, impressionable girl as Laura's emotional instability becomes increasingly clear. As their world closes in, they must unearth certain truths to find a way out.
Renowned photographers Carlos Sanchez and Jason Sanchez's foray into cinema is defined by a striking dramatic pull and career-high performances from both Wood and Stone. With a complete handle on the psychological thriller and an ability to use the frame to isolate — or unite — a scene's action, A Worthy Companion is a stunning tale of power dynamics heightened by the characters' seemingly prosaic quest for normalcy.
MAGALI SIMARD
Screenings
Scotiabank 7
Scotiabank 2
Scotiabank 3
Scotiabank 11