Streams Flow from a River – Canadian Film Fest 2023

The estranged children of a Chinese couple are trapped by a snowstorm and forced to confront the events that tore them apart in Streams Flow from a River. Loretta Chow (Danielle Ayow) and her brother Henry (Liam Ma) return to the rural Alberta town where they grew up after being told by their mother, Diana (Jane Luk), that their father, Gordon (Simon Sinn), suffered a stroke. Loretta and Henry became estranged from Gordon a decade earlier and have no intentions of staying in their parent's house. However, a snowstorm causes Loretta's car to break down, and the family is forced to confront their dysfunctionality.

Streams Flow from a River Synopsis

Streams Flow from a River is a micro-series from co-writer and director Christopher Yip (Fish Boy), consisting of six episodes averaging 15 minutes in length. Each episode reveals more past events that resulted in this Chinese family getting torn apart from each other. This includes an entire episode dedicated to a young Gordon (Raymond Chan) and Diana's (Jinny Wong) courtship and how the former's optimism sours after starting up a failed Liquor & Laundromat.

My Thoughts on Streams Flow from a River

Streams Flow from a River has a feature film's plot structure and total running time, though the story is cut up into episodic chunks. This is not unlike the model used by the short-lived streaming service Quibi, as the six episodes range from 11 to 16 minutes in length. Stream Flow from a River would probably work better by combining the episodes into a single feature or increasing the episodes' size since, as it stands, Streams Flow from a River is an OK family drama that doesn't quite fully work as either a TV series or film.

Trailer for Streams Flow from a River – Canadian Film Fest 2023