Sheila McCarthy as Nora and Mary Walsh as Edna in Dancing on the Elephant
Dancing on the Elephant, based on a play by Lisa Hagen (which was produced by Theatre Baddeck), and directed by Julia Neill and Jacob Smith, has a sold out screening today at The Atlantic International Film Festival, and audiences are really in for an emotional treat.
The story is set in Cape Breton, and as the film opens we see Kenny (Kevin Kincaid) driving his mother, Nora (Sheila McCarthy) to Shady Rest Retirement Home, where he and his brothers have decided she needs to live since she had a minor stroke. We see Nora as a strong, seemingly healthy, independent woman who feels infantilized and trapped at this new stage of her life. Once she begins to settle in she meets Edna (Mary Walsh), a feisty woman who uses a walker and, we come to realize, is in the earlier stages of dementia. Nora and Edna recognize one another from school, and strike up a friendship.
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but both Nora and Edna feel alone in the world, and are discombobulated by their reality at this facility, surrounded by strangers and nurses, where they really have been striped of so much of their identity, freedom, and agency. Together they start hatching plans to be able to reassert a bit of that agency, and to feel human again. The ‘dancing on the elephant’ from the title captures poignantly the precariousness of their current reality- suspended between their “real lives” and death in this sort of No Man’s Land where all they can do is try to make the best of it.
Sheila McCarthy plays Nora as a very kindhearted woman who has great dignity and a sense of the proper ways of behaving, but having had her life turned upside down, and by her own children, from whom she feels this deep sense of betrayal, you slowly see her more rebellious side emerge. Edna, played by Mary Walsh, already delights in causing chaos wherever she goes, and the two complement one another beautifully. What’s so lovely is that finding Nora gives Edna a sense of stability and comfort, that at times placates her adventurous spirit while inspiring Nora’s. McCarthy is incredible at capturing the nuances in Nora- the way that she reacts to things that Edna says and does as her mind wanders- we see her heart breaking even though she is doing everything in her power to maintain a calm and sensible outward demeanour. Walsh gives an absolutely devastating performance, with her characteristic comedy woven through, but she really does a brilliant job at capturing so many of the little details of the reality of dementia and of growing older and frailer, and not being able to rely on your body or your mind for things that you always took for granted. We see Edna’s fear, frustration, and the way she oscillates between giving up and rallying.
Hagen’s screenplay also vividly captures how the residents’ lives are intertwined with that of the nursing staff, and there is a grey line between the professional and the personal, especially since the nursing staff work in other people’s home. Nurse Barbara is played by Amanda Brugel and we see her often on her cell phone dealing with a stressful situation at home that Nora and Edna know all about. The stress at work couples with the stress at home, and we see that putting strains on the way that she responds to situations with the residents. There is also a scene where we are introduced to the ridiculous physical therapy instructor, played hilariously by Jeff Schwager, which reminded me a bit of Damien Atkins in Sarah Polley’s film Take This Waltz (2011).
I also found it unique for Hagen to be exploring how dementia affects someone, especially a woman, when they are lost in sad and distressing memories from their past. We see brief flashbacks from Edna’s youth, which gives us a deeper understanding of how she has come to be so alone at this stage in her life.
Raylene Rankin singing “Rise Again” from The Rankin Family’s third album North Country (1993) is a recurring musical theme in the film, bringing comfort and resolve, to Nora especially, as I’m sure is a familiar experience throughout Cape Breton. The entire score of the film is a lovely mix of Nova Scotian artists including Erin Costelo, Wendy MacIsaac, and Mo Kenney, which grounds the film even more in this specific and special place.
The film is shot in a way that focuses very much on the actors; I found that I often forgot that I was watching a movie. I was so sucked into the story and immersed in the world that all the more technical elements faded away, and I was just riveted and held by the story. The only thing I was a little unclear about was whether the story was set in present day, or whether it was set about ten years ago- given Edna’s reference to “the war,” but this was more just a matter of being curious not confused.
I found Dancing on the Elephant very moving; I cried through most of the last thirty minutes of the film. I read that Paul Brothers on Global likened it to both Thelma and Louise (1991) and Grace and Frankie (2015), and I agree with that, but I would also add that it is like a poignant mixture of Grace and Frankie and Away From Her (2006) as told through a richly Cape Breton lens. This film deserves the same international attention as all of the aforementioned works, and holy frig, Mary Walsh: what an Atlantic Canadian treasure.
Dancing on the Elephant plays today, September 13th, 2025 at 4:45pm in Halifax as part of the Atlantic International Film Festival, at Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane and this screening has sold out. The film is written by Lisa Hagen, directed by Julia Neill and Jacob Smith, and is produced by Tanya Preyde and Walter Forsyth.
It will be screened on September 17th at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival and on September 26th at the Edmonton International Film Festival, and hopefully it will have a much wider release in the future. To stay up to date on this film please visit this website.
The Atlantic International Film Festival continues in Halifax until September 17th, bringing over one hundred films from Halifax, Canada, and around the world, to local audiences. There are also free panels and other special events happening in venues around the city. For more information please visit this website.
