The Hanging Garden

Writer/director Fitzgerald's first feature starts conventionally as Sweet William (all the characters are named after plants) returns home to rural Nova Scotia after a long absence for his sister's wedding. Then matters turn spectacularly surreal: he encounters his former self, an unhappy grossly overweight teenager who hanged himself in despair over his homosexuality. A question mark hangs over which William is the 'true' one, and which the ghost, or the fantasy. Leavins and Fox head a strong cast in this unusual witty twist on the old dysfunctional family plot.