Wildhood

Lincoln "Link" (Lewitski) is a teenager in his late teens who lives with his abusive single father and younger brother Travis (Winters-Anthony) in a run-down trailer park in Canada. After a particularly brutal beating, and upon learning that his mother, whom he had long believed to be dead, is still alive, Link impulsively runs away with Travis to go find her. At a store buying supplies, Link meets Pasmay (Odjick), a Mi'kmaq powwow dancer, who expresses an interest in Link, but Link rudely ignores him. When he tries to pay for his groceries, the store clerk accuses him of stealing. Link angrily storms out with his brother; he is followed by Pasmay who announces himself as a fellow Mi'kmaq and defends the two from the clerk's racist behaviour. Link becomes defensive, and a short scuffle ensues, but the three quickly board Pasmay's car when the store clerk threatens to call the police. Initially only accepting Pasmay's help to leave the store and drive away from his father in a car chase, Link eventually agrees to hitchhike further in Pasmay's car when he claims he has food. Later that evening Pasmay expresses sympathy towards Link's circumstances and insists he will help the two brothers find their birth mother; Pasmay also teaches Travis some of his indigenous language. Over time the three boys form a close but slightly rocky relationship with one another. Link, Pasmay and Travis visit a rehab centre that Link's mom apparently lived at for some time, but the owner reveals she was kicked out and refuses to provide any personal information to Link, which incenses him. He storms out upset and frustrated, but is happy when Pasmay reveals he stole the rehab centre's file on Link's mom, which provides an address for her. When they visit the home, they find it completely abandoned and derelict; Link finds old photos of his mom and cries while wearing one of her old dresses. Pasmay teaches the boys about indigenous language and culture. Early one morning he teaches Link his powwow dance routine, but Link walks away embarrassed when Travis ridicules him. After Pasmay's car breaks down and they get caught in heavy rain, they accept a ride from "Smokey" (Michael Greyeyes), who claims he will help Link find his mom if Link helps him in return with a small errand as part of his cake-making business. The group go to an exotic nightclub named "Tiger Lily" where Link's mom previously worked. There he meets a drag queen who provides him with information on the tribe that Link's mom belongs to. Smokey offers to help the boys further, but Link politely declines. Still, he accepts Smokey's offer of cash and thanks him in his native language. Travis storms away, upset at Link's constant demands of him and hints that he knows that he and Pasmay are attracted to each other, which Link unconvincingly denies. Link eventually wins him over with the promise of a hotel room and hot food. The next evening, when Travis has fallen asleep, Pasmay invites Link to go swim with him in a nearby waterfall. There the two kiss and have sex for the first time. The next morning Pasmay asks him if Link feels okay about the experience. Link admits that he liked it but he'd never had sex "like that" before. When Pasmay suggests that Link give up on searching for his mom, as he thinks she clearly doesn't want to meet him, Link roughly pushes him and calls him a "cocksucker". Pasmay walks away, upset. The two eventually reconcile and reaffirm their love for one another. Link finds the tribe that his mom belongs to. She apologises for abandoning him; when Link asks if she wants to be his mom, she tearfully says yes. She also subtly suggests that she knows Link and Pasmay are now a couple and tells Link that Pasmay is waiting for him. The two boys hug, and Travis, standing nearby, also joins the embrace. The film ends with the three boys joyfully dancing to Pasmay's powwow routine on the beach. == Cast ==