Gavin Baird’s innovative, dreamy, and at times eerie film A Storm Blows Over uses a simple premise, and builds, bringing us to places that we least expect. After a woman’s boyfriend of years goes missing, she goes on a quest to find him. As Baird dances gracefully between genres, his protagonist’s journey takes us to understated yet bold cinematic worlds. Whether moving through the bowels of a dark monstrous creature, or the soft sunlit backdrop of a couple falling in love, or a strange rural farmhouse frozen in an unfamiliar time, Baird’s intentional use of film language and silence speaks to a skilled artist who reveres cinema.

A Storm Blows Over is careful and delicate. The story moves from the present, to memory, to dream, to alternate reality effortlessly, all the while pulling at our heartstrings and grounding us in the lived experience of confusion and grief. Though sad, this film hurts us in a good way – reminding us that to feel is to be alive. Gavin Baird is a distinct and unique Canadian voice from Saskatchewan, and this film solidifies him as a true talent on the rise.