When We Were Alone: What It Is and How to Actually Watch It
When We Were Alone is a 2016 Canadian drama film written and directed by Atom Egoyan. It stars Devery Jacobs as Claudia, a young Indigenous girl in a 1960s residential school who gradually learns about the trauma her grandmother survived. The film is based on the children's book by David A. Robertson. It premiered at the TIFF and was nominated for the Genie Award for Best Motion Picture. I know this sounds like a Wikipedia summary, but most people asking about this title are actually looking for one of three things: where to stream it legally, whether it's appropriate for classroom use, or what the actual content covers before they commit the runtime. So let's get to the practical stuff.
When We Were Alone – Streaming and Access
The film is available on several platforms depending on your region. In Canada, it has appeared on CBC Gem, Crave, and Apple TV for rental or purchase. Internationally, you can find it on Amazon Prime Video (rental), Google Play Movies, and Vudu. It has also been licensed to Kanopy in some library systems. If you go through a public library card, Kanopy sometimes has it free. The quality on streaming tends to be solid 1080p, though there is no 4K mastering to expect. A note on downloading: I do not provide links to pirated copies. The production is small enough that every view counts toward the funders and the community the story represents. Rental on legitimate platforms runs about $3.99–$4.99, which is standard for indie Canadian titles.
What You're Actually Watching
The narrative follows Claudia, who works at her grandmother's garden and starts asking questions about the older woman's silence. Through flashbacks, we see the grandmother as a child in a residential school where she is punished for speaking her language, cutting her hair, and being removed from her family. The parallel editing between Claudia's present and her grandmother's past is the structural core of the film. It's not a documentary. It's a fiction film using a child's perspective to approach a subject that often gets handled with heavy-handed solemnity by adult directors. The runtime is roughly 98 minutes. The pacing is deliberate, and there are long stretches of quiet that some viewers find slow. Others find it necessary. It depends on what you expect from Egoyan's work.
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Content Notes and Classroom Use
If you're a teacher considering this for a classroom, here's what you need to know upfront. The film contains references to physical and emotional abuse in a residential school setting. There are scenes of children being forcibly separated from families, punishment for speaking their language, and implied spiritual abuse. There is no graphic sexual violence or explicit gore, but the emotional weight is real and sustained. I've sat through lesson planning sessions where someone suggested showing this to Grade 6 students without a content warning. That's a mistake. The film is appropriate for ages 13 and up with guidance, but even then, individual students will react differently depending on their own family history. Always pair it with support resources. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba has discussion guides that actually work better than most publisher-supplied materials. Common pitfall: Many educators treat this as a "teachable moment" and then move on. The trauma depicted is intergenerational and ongoing. Showing the film without follow-up structure does more harm than good. Budget at least two class periods: one for viewing and one for structured discussion with clear ground rules.
Technical and Production Details
Shot on digital, primarily in Manitoba and Ontario locations. The production budget was modest by industry standards, in the range of a few million dollars CAD. Cinematography by Joe Resnais, editing by Myron I. Krizmanic. The score by Chris Thile and others is restrained, which is the right call. This film doesn't need music to tell you how to feel. The color palette shifts between the past and present sequences, with the residential school timeline leaning toward desaturated, cooler tones and the present day carrying more warmth. It's a subtle choice that some viewers miss entirely. Don't expect bold visual flair. Egoyan is working in a different mode here than his earlier, more formally ambitious films.
Performance and Reception
Devery Jacobs carries the film. She's not a trained child actor, and that shows in the best way. Her performance feels observed rather than performed. Lynn Collins plays the grandmother in the flashbacks, and her work is notable for what it holds back. The supporting cast includes Graham Greene and Tantoo Cardinal, both of whom appear in limited but impactful roles. Critical reception was generally positive. It holds a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes with a mostly favorable consensus noting the film's restraint and emotional honesty. It won several awards at Canadian festivals, including the Canada Goose Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Box office returns were modest, which is typical for this category of film in this market.
Why This Film Exists and Why It Matters
Residential schools in Canada operated from the 1880s to 1996, removing an estimated 150,000 Indigenous children from their families. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 calls to action in 2015. When We Were Alone arrived in that cultural moment and filled a specific niche: a film told from a child's point of view about a system that was designed to erase childhood itself. The film's strength is that it doesn't rely on shock. It relies on accumulation. Small moments build into something unavoidable. The scene where Claudia's grandmother finally speaks her language aloud to her is earned over nearly two hours of silence. That's the entire argument of the film in one moment.
Alternatives if This Doesn't Fit Your Needs
If you're looking for something more documentary in approach, Récompense or We Were Children cover similar territory with archival footage and interviews. If you want fiction that handles the subject from an adult perspective, Trickster (the series) or Rona's Party offer different entry points. If you need something shorter for a single class period, the short film adaptation of Robertson's book might work better before committing to the feature. The film is not a starting point for someone unfamiliar with the topic. If this is your first exposure to residential school history, you may want to read the TRC summary report first. The film will hit harder and make more sense when you already understand the institutional framework it depicts.
When We Were Alone – Where to Start
Check Kanopy through your local library first. If it's not there, rent on Apple TV or Amazon for about four dollars. Watch it without multitasking. The film asks for your attention, and it's straightforward about what it's doing. Afterward, if you're discussing it with others, give yourself and everyone else space to sit with it. Not every conversation needs to happen immediately.
