Scarborough

Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson's 2022 Canadian film is set in a low-income part of Toronto. Three children meet at an early-years programme. The film shows each of their homes separately. Poverty, neglect and migration appear in different forms; the narrative also shows the limits of the teacher who runs the programme and does not make the institution a rescuer. It is adapted from a novel. The cast are children and largely inexperienced. The tone is calm and the violence mostly outside the frame. Who it's for: viewers of Canadian independent cinema and social drama. Who it's not for: viewers for whom neglect of children and poverty would be difficult.