Final Rating: 3/5
Aberdeen, the directorial debut of Ryan Cooper and Eva Thomas, stars Gail Maurice as an indigenous woman in Winnipeg fighting to regain control of her life. Through the titular character’s struggles with homelessness, addiction, and the loss of her grandchildren, Cooper and Thomas examine hurdles First Nations people face on a daily basis.
The film opens with Aberdeen Spence (Maurice) being arrested for public intoxication and sleeping on a park bench, shortly after being evicted from a motel. When her brother Boyd (Ryan Black) picks her up, Spence discovers that she’s also lost all her IDs. As well, Boyd, guardian of Spence’s grandchildren after the disappearance of their mother, has just given up the children to the foster care system. Spence sets out to replace her IDs and find a way to get back custody of her grandchildren.
The largest part of Aberdeen is spent running in bureaucratic circles. In order to get a status card, Spence needs a government ID. In order to get a government ID, she needs some form of photo ID. After searching, she finds an office willing to issue a document with little identification, but even then it’ll take at least a few weeks. Not to mention that, without a legal address, many offices won’t entertain her at all.
And moreover, Spence is abrasive. Despite her relatable struggles with oppressive bureaucrats, her awful treatment of the people close to her makes her hard to root for. She selfishly only reaches out to others when she wants something, never considers anyone else’s needs, and even gets one of her friends arrested.
That said, Maurice’s performance is top-notch. The anger that underpins all of Spence’s actions feels like it’s been stewing for a lifetime. When other characters call her out, Spence doesn’t change her behaviour, but she certainly hears them. In flashbacks, she is shown as a child torn between embracing and denouncing her native heritage.
While her time in foster care doesn’t feature in flashbacks, many references are made to the 60’s Scoop. Her best friend Alfred mentions being “a child of the 60’s Scoop” several times, and her mother is shown as almost desperate to leave her people behind.
Aberdeen gets quite dark. The issues it tackles don’t have an easy solution – at least not one that can be wrapped up in 90 minutes. The main character can (and does) grow by the end of the film, but the society around her doesn’t change, and the society around her will continue to subject people to the same cycle, producing more maladjusted outcasts instead of letting them be at their full potential.
Aberdeen was seen during the 2025 imagineNATIVE film festival.
