What a hilarious conceit for a political satire! Under the pretext of having a vaguely worded referendum on a pipeline passing through Quebec, the Legault government quickly declares that the referendum was also on sovereignty, and declares Quebec an independent nation. There are enough sympathizers within the Canadian Army that they break off and form an Independent Quebec Army. Canadian Forces send in a contingent to confront them on an isolated road dividing Quebec from New Brunswick.

What ensues is a rather hilarious confrontation between the two solitudes who don’t really have it within them to raise arms against fellow former countrymen. However, they are not above hurling a few choice epithets at each other, fully multi-lingual of course. Things get really complicated with the addition of two Indigenous women who are in the habit of crossing that border point frequently.

The film eloquently summarizes the totality of Canadian political history in one little microcosm. This is indeed the first truly multi-lingual feature film to cross our paths since BON COP, BAD COP, and in the true spirit in which the film is intended, viewers will be able to stream the English version (English subtitles on spoken French/Cree) or the French version (French subtitles on spoken English/Cree).

Shot on a micro-budget of $125,000, this is a labour of love from co-writer and director Joshua Demers, who was part of Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program. It also says a lot about our national character, and how we have more in common with each other than we sometimes like to admit.