Just a few days after the teaser trailer for KC Carthew’s post-apocalyptic fantasy epic Polaris was published, the film received an official poster. Emotional and perilous journeys are revealed in the two-minute video, and the poster is powerful in its depiction of the girl’s emotional condition, which is an amalgamation of fury and rebellion. Carthew’s second feature film, following 2016’s The Sun At Midnight, which starred Duane Howard and Devery Jacobs, is an all-female indie revenge thriller. In addition to its 2015 Fantasia debut, Polaris is a feature-length version of the filmmaker’s 10-minute short Fish Out of Water.
The film’s official summary reads:
A cruel Morad hunting team just misses Sumi, a human kid raised by Mama Polar Bear, as she flees through the wide winter tundra in 2144 against the bleak backdrop of a frozen wasteland. After meeting Frozen Girl, an odd bond is formed, and the two of them dash ahead of the vengeful hunters toward the Polaris star.” The 90-minute-long film’s poster is a basic one, yet it conveys a powerful message. Sumi’s face is seen distorted like a predator’s in what we may take as a gesture of insurrection in this close-up shot. Screaming, she appears like she is. Her face is so strong that we can nearly hear her.
A helmet on her head signifies her willingness to fight back. Her rage appears to be well-founded based on what we’ve seen so far in the teaser. It’s been said that Polaris is “Mad Max in the Arctic” instead of the desert because of its icy post-apocalyptic environment. However, despite the lack of Mad Max-esque technology in Polaris’ trailer, the film’s general ferocity is undeniably evocative of the film. That this film is able to display a completely new language without subtitles is one of its most striking qualities.
This keeps the audience’s attention on the emotion being conveyed rather than the actual words being said. 13-year-old Sumi is played by Korean-Canadian actress Viva Lee. Khamisa Wilsher, Muriel Dutil, and Kara Wooten are also in the cast. A joint production between Yukon, Quebec, and Ontario, Polaris tells the story of a polar bear and her cubs. It was a collaborative effort between Carthew Fraser & Max Fraser, Paul Cadieux & Alyson Richards that saw this project through to completion.
A post-apocalyptic film with significant environmental concerns will premiere at Fantasia in Montreal on July 14.