Suzie Leblanc

Description: In her previous life as a professional Montreal singer and pianist, new mom Elisabeth (Suzie LeBlanc) strove for perfect harmony, something a squalling newborn rarely provides. When her equally demanding husband Pierre (Patrick Goyette) moves the family to the untamed country, Elisabeth's struggles with postpartum depression becomes a family crisis. Acadian filmmaker Rodrigue Jean (Full Blast) directs and writes with understated power and empathy; Lost Song could tear your heart out.

Description: This taut and atmospheric film doesn't miss a beat. LeBlanc stars as Elisabeth, a new mother who can't quite cope with the move to an isolated cottage with her husband, Pierre (Goyette). The immense wilderness and her overbearing husband strain Elisabeth's calm, and she slowly unravels.

Directing with patience and precision, Jean adds tension by keeping mum about his characters' motives. There's no exposition, very little dialogue and a thin plot.

Instead, he relies on evocative cinematography that makes the trees shift from idyllic to foreboding, editing that delivers a jolt every tie someone so much as trips over a log and a strong performance by LeBlanc, whose every flicker of emotion is placed under a microscope for analysis.

The film had me leaning closer so as not to miss a single moment.