Private Project

Still The Water

A despairing hockey player returns home, but his reappearance fuels jealousy and the emergence of a long-buried, painful truth.
All eyes are on Jordie MacAulay (Ry Barrett, Neverlost) when he returns to his small hometown on Prince Edward Island after playing semi-pro hockey in Alberta. Usually in an alcoholic haze, he’s kicked off his team after injuring a player. With no friends, no job, and no respect, in desperation he turns to his family for help.
Alongside his standoffish older brother Nicky (Colin Price, Murdoch Mysteries) and gregarious younger brother Noah (Spencer Graham), Jordie joins his father’s fishing boat building business. But hockey calls him. The rink is his refuge, as it was for him and Nicky as boys when their father’s drunken rages sent them running. Jordie finds a place on a team, but it’s Nicky’s – Nicky’s the star. Jordie is a thorn in Nicky’s side. Things get worse when Abby (Christina McInulty, Broken Castle), the woman Nicky is having an affair with, becomes attached to Jordie. Abby has a painful past too. She and Jordie connect through pain, which she attempts to heal through song-writing and music.
Years ago, domestic violence killed Nicky, Jordie, and Noah’s mother. Nicky always believed it was Jordie’s fault. His jealousy and pain finally erupt on the ice as he lashes out at Jordie. Both hurt, they must move on the next day- it’s launch day for the fishing boats and the brothers must work together to get the job done.
An accident on the boat presents Nicky with a choice. Save the brother who has stolen his mother, his girlfriend, his hockey glory, the affection of his kids? Or let him die?
Still the Water is a dramatic feature film about second chances. A family struggles with a painful past, secrets, a love affair that is ripping them apart and their old sanctuary – the hockey rink – that brings them back from the brink.

  • Susan Rodgers
    Director
    Bobby's Peace, Dreamers, The Healing Place, A Time To Drum
  • Susan Rodgers
    Writer
    The Drifters Series, The Dallas White Series, Bobby's Peace, Dreamers, The Healing Place, A Time To Drum
  • Susan Rodgers
    Producer
    Bobby's Peace, Dreamers, A Time To Drum, The Healing Place
  • Rick Gibbs
    Producer
  • Nicolle Morrison
    Producer
  • Ry Barrett
    Key Cast
    "Jordie MacAulay"
    The Heretics, The Demolisher, If A Tree Falls, Neverlost
  • Colin Price
    Key Cast
    "Nicky MacAulay"
    The Heretics, Lost Stories, Bed of the Dead
  • Christina McInulty
    Key Cast
    "Abby Ryan"
    We Three, How They Met, Broken Castle
  • Spencer Graham
    Key Cast
    "Noah MacAulay"
  • Sherri-Lee Pike
    Key Cast
    "Alice MacAulay"
    Bobby's Peace, The New Neighbours
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 40 minutes 9 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 7, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    430,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Susan Rodgers

Susan creates captivating stories loved by readers around the world. A favourite is her fifteen-book Drifters series, about a troubled gal who runs away from P.E.I. and finds success as an actor and singer. Still the Water is the first scripted feature film for the Vancouver Film School honours graduate, who initially learned the ropes as a stand-in and crew member on the television series Emily Of New Moon before moving to behind the camera lens. She’s written, shot, and edited numerous scripted and unscripted projects from the ground up. Some of her past projects include: The Healing Place, Bobby’s Peace, The New Neighbours, and A Time to Drum.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Still The Water is seeded in a day I took my four-year-old son to the rink to watch a Junior hockey game. As a single mom, I felt like I should be exposing my child to a rousing male sport, and hockey fit the bill. My imagination drifted during the game, and Jordie MacAulay was born. A few years later, as part of a custody agreement, I had to send my son to his father's. I watched this small child, who trusted me, walk towards an airplane, a dalmatian stuffy sticking out of his knapsack. I wondered what it might be like if he never came home.

Still The Water was born of these experiences; of shared pain and gritty real life.

It is my hope that the film helps others see that their old family riffs can heal, if they choose forgiveness and grace.