‘Juniper’ A Beautiful, Touching Story

The remaining show dates and times for the film are as follows: Friday May 5 at noon and Tuesday May 9 at 2:45 pm.

In the film festival selection ‘Juniper,’ Ruth is a worldly former war correspondent now bored in retirement with a drinking problem and a newly fractured leg.

Sam is her unruly grandson, recently kicked out of boarding school and still grieving the death of his mother.

When the two are brought together under the same roof, they form an unexpected bond.

‘Juniper’ is a moving, heart-felt film that does an amazing job delivering an emotional, yet sometimes uplifting story. The story of a troubled teen taking care of an older relative may have been done before. But, ‘Juniper’ does an outstanding job making the story captivating and emotional. The film also does a beautiful job showing characters going through strained family relationships and grief.

Towards the beginning moments of the film, you see that the troubled young man (Sam) is still feeling depressed long after his mother’s death and after a while, taking care of his grandmother may actually help him cope. When they start getting along more, those moments are both really heartwarming and, at times, humorous. There is an entire scene featuring a house party where the son has the grandmother join in on the festivities and it’s one of the best scenes in the film.

The performances from Charlotte Rampling (Ruth) and George Ferrier (Sam) are both emotional and astounding. This is the first time I’ve watched them Rampling in a film and already I can tell she’s an amazing actress. She can bring heart, humor and so much more to her role and a few of her scenes will really leave you feeling really moved, especially towards the latter half of the film.

During the Spring Film Festival, make sure to check out this moving story. There is plenty of heart, a few laughs and plenty of gin (Ruth’s drink of choice that you see her drink quite a bit of during the film).

The small cast includes: Charlotte Rampling as Ruth; Marton Csokas as Robert; George Ferrier as Sam and Edith Poor as Nurse Sarah. ‘Juniper’ is written and directed by Matthew J. Saville.

The film’s name derives from juniper berries, a key ingredient in gin, to which the Ruth character loves to drink every day. ‘Juniper’ has been shown at various film festivals over the last couple of years.

‘Juniper’ is not rated and has a running time of 94 minutes.

https://youtu.be/XwR4CIeMCzs