Director Atom Egoyan's haunting adaptation of Russell Banks's novel follows a grieving mountain community in the wake of a tragic school bus accident that takes the lives of numerous local children. An ambulance-chasing lawyer arrives in town to persuade the survivors to initiate a class-action lawsuit, driving apart the once tight-knit hamlet. Meanwhile, a teen crippled in the crash must choose between mourning and moving on. Winner of the Grand Jury award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Academy Award nominations: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay.