Ashgrove – Canadian Film Fest 2022

A scientist trying to save humanity has to confront her troubled marriage in Ashgrove. In the not so distant future, a viral pandemic has made the world's water supply toxic to humans and Dr. Jennifer Ashgrove (Amanda Brugel) is the scientist closest to finding a solution. However, the stress of the job becomes too much for Jennifer, who suffers an extended blackout and is advised by Dr. Lakeland (Christine Horne) to take a few days off with her husband Jason (Jonas Chernick). While at their family farm, the couple are visited by friends Elliot (Shawn Doyle) and Sammy (Natalie Brown) and long-buried tensions about Jennifer and Jason's marriage begin to rise to the surface.

Ashgrove is a drama directed by Jeremy LaLonde (James vs His Future Self) and written by LaLonde with stars Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid's Tale) and Jonas Chernick (James vs His Future Self). The film takes place in a world where humanity is coming close to extinction, thanks to a water pandemic that has claimed the lives of 60 million people. Dr. Jennifer Ashgrove seems to have found a solution, but ends up suffering from dissociative amnesia as a result of a stress-induced blackout. Under the advice of her doctor, Jennifer heads up to the country with her husband Jason for a few days, which results in the two having to come face-to-face with their already strained relationship.

Ashgrove is a bit of a change of direction for Jeremy LaLonde, being much more of a dramatic film than his earlier, more comedic efforts. The bulk of the film is driven primarily by Amanda Brugel and Jonas Chernick, with Brugel in particularly given a quite standout performance. While the plot does get a bit twisty in the third act, Ashgrove ends up being a quite solid pandemic-set relationship drama.