116 minutes – Drama
Language: English
Festival release date: 2021 – Vancouver International Film Festival
Release date:
Production company: Hired Hands Productions
Canadian distributor: Mongrel Media

Set in southern Alberta in 1981, Andy is estranged from his father, and is working another man’s land as a hired hand. His dreams of farming his own land rest on the hopes that this farm may someday be his. In trying to establish new roots with his wife Susan and their two children, Andy serves as substitute son to both his boss, Mac, and a neighbouring farmer – another lone and tough man living in near neglect on adjacent acres, vulnerable but unflinching. When Mac’s prodigal son returns to claim his birthright, Andy is fired. Tensions mount between him and Susan as Andy struggles to find his new identity in a world that is increasingly unfamiliar. And as a darkness settles over the community, mysterious occurrences begin; cattle mutilations, drought, a missing teenager, paranoia, and unexplained lights in the sky. With hope dwindling, Andy grasps for options, making risky and desperate moves to maintain his place in a world he had always assumed was his own.

Hands That Bind was produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada.
Also see: Thom Ernst reviews Hands that Bind.