Bluebird

Lesley has driven a school bus in a small Maine logging town for 12 years without incident. One day, checking her bus at shift's end, she is distracted by a bluebird that has flown into her bus. This distraction makes her overlook a small boy asleep in the back, whose mother drunkenly forgot to meet him at his stop. The next morning the child is found in a hypothermic coma. Lesley is held responsible, and this quiet, snowbound town is shaken to its core. Not only is the local mill facing closure, bringing potential disaster to the community, but a child lies on the brink of death and families are about to be tested in ways they had never imagined. BLUEBIRD builds its power slowly, like a steady snowfall. With an outstanding cast and stunningly evocative cinematography, this haunting film draws you into the fire of a family's struggle to survive even as it wraps you in its chilling beauty. —C.R.