Few Canadian directors are as prolific or diverse as BC’s Carl Bessai. From mysteries, family dramas and even horror, over the last few years the director has really been pushing the boundaries of what one might expect from independent film by telling beautiful, rich stories on a shoestring budget. Bessai surpassed expectation with last year’s Mothers & Daughters (our review), a film which also marked a sort of new era in his career. It’s a little unfair but I went into Cole with high expectations and for the most part, the film reached and even surpassed them.

Cole stars Richard de Klerk as Cole, a young man living in Lytton, BC, a town suffering from small town syndrome: no one new settles there and the few who do live in town would do anything to get out. Cole and his family own the town’s only gas station, a business he runs with his sister and her family (her abusive boyfriend and two children). Cole has dreams of getting out of Lytton and it seems that his dream may be that much closer when he applies and is accepted into a writing class at UBC, a class that will require a three hour drive in each direction. Though this may be Cole’s only opportunity to make an escape from small town life, his allegiance and support to his family force him to re-evaluate his choice and leave him to make some difficult decisions.

Cole has no easy answers. Does he essentially abandon his family in pursuit of his dreams or does he forget life in the outside world for a lifetime of pumping gas and small town living? It’s not an easy decision and one that plagues the titular character at every turn but that’s life and also the strength of Bessai’s most recent films, including this one. These are the realities and questions that plague everyone and Bessai has become a master at telling these small stories in compelling ways. Though it could easily have fallen into cliché (some parts of the story are as old as time), Bessai manages to add his personal touch to the story bringing an intimacy to the film few directors manage to successfully achieve.

Beautifully shot on location by Bessai himself, the film captures the allure and sadness of rural living, a life which can be both fulfilling and a sad road to nowhere. Adam Zang’s script not only gives us one man’s struggle to find and make a life for himself but in the process, it also provides a poignant look at the extinction of small towns.

Accompanied by a melodic soundtrack featuring an array of Canadian artists, Cole is both an ode to small town living and a compelling story of life and the difficult decisions we make every day.