The Grizzlies

In 2005, Russ Sheppard (Ben Schnetzer) is a recent Canadian teaching graduate who flies to a small Inuit town in Nunavut for his first job. Trying to help the teens who have a high rate of suicide and despair, he teaches the kids lacrosse and organizes a local league.

There are moments when "The Grizzlies" feels like a formulaic sports movie though it thankfully has some unpredictable moments which fall outside that usual narrative. Also, Russ starts out as a naïve do-gooder / rescuer who is initially hard to take. But the movie wins for various reasons. The main one: it is based on a true story.

The film exposes the long-term difficulties of the community including not only the suicide rates mentioned but addiction, domestic violence, school truancy, and the legacy of the egregious residential school system. These other stories make the film gripping and moving with many emotions coming to the surface. It also provides hope in a sincere way that does not gloss over the long-term history of great struggle. As "The Grizzlies"joins the list of recent stories of First Nations histories, it is certainly more than a typical sports movie. Let's hope for more of these stories to be told. - dbamateurcritic

At first I was a little "Another white guy saves the natives, fantastic" but the story was engaging and the acting was very good, and the cinematography was just great, and I soon got over my initial concerns. Having worked in the Arctic for a few years I think it was a realistic view of the land and it's people (although in the beginning I wondered if it was going to be a typical and oft-told tale of problems in the Native world from an outsiders POV) but it went past that, into the actual characters, people that I cared about. I liked the story and the ending, and the sign at the end is exactly what would happen in the native village I spent time in, and it was wonderful! (no spoilers here, just go watch the movie!) LOVED the end.

This movie was fantastic, the story was great, well made , good acting , extremely important message and kept you into it start to finish .

The most important line of the movie is when Miranda tells Russ " it's not about you". The main complaint many will have with this film is the idea of another movie about a "white savior". At first glance it presents that way, but if you know coaching you know the truth lies in Miranda's words and the story is about the kids on the team and how they saved themselves .

I currently coach a high school program and I can assure you that as hard as I might work I do very little , in the end I am the one learning , the kids do everything . You can't force kids to work or to want it that comes from within and I thought this showed that in a brilliant way .

Thoughts provoking and inspiring .

One of the best sports movies I've seen in years. Never thought I could be so invested in a film about lacrosse, but then The Grizzlies is a rare film with a big heart.

It felt both tragic and heartwarming. I was completely transported into that little part of Canada and Inuit culture. The characters felt authentic and the scenery hard to look away from.

I thought it did a great job of acknowledging challenges facing Inuit and First Nations people both past and present. It was as much a cultural lesson for me as it was heartwarming film based on true events.

I felt invested in the plight of each character and felt quite connected to each of them by the end of the film. It was this connection that caused me to be pretty damn emotional at times!

Highly recommend.

I stumbled across this movie on Netflix under hidden gems section. Simply put, definitely a gem. Great acting, great story, and a great watch.