A Colony (2019) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

Mylia navigates adolescence, family rupture, cultural tension, and first love before choosing to embrace her difference.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

Crossing Into Adolescence

Mylia begins high school while supporting Camille through bullying. Her academic connection with Jacinthe opens the door to a wider social life.

Key Events

• Mylia Starts High School — Mylia begins high school while living with Camille and their parents near the reserve. Characters: Mylia, Camille, Nathalie, Henri Location: Rural Quebec
• Camille Faces Bullying — Camille struggles with peer bullying and depends on Mylia as her only friend. Characters: Mylia, Camille Location: Family home
• Cold Cousin Encounter — Mylia discovers her locker is next to Gab's, but Gab responds coldly. Characters: Mylia Location: High school hallway
• Jacinthe Seeks Help — Jacinthe notices Mylia's notes and asks for help avoiding failure in history. Characters: Mylia, Jacinthe Location: History classroom
• Homework Partnership — Mylia and Jacinthe meet to collaborate on their history homework. Characters: Mylia, Jacinthe Location: Study meeting
• Invitation To Party — Jacinthe invites Mylia to a party, expanding Mylia's new social world. Characters: Mylia, Jacinthe Location: School

A Risky New World

Jacinthe brings Mylia to a party, where drinking leads to a humiliating night and an unexpected recovery at Jimmy's home. Mylia and Jimmy gradually become acquainted.

Key Events

• Invitation To Party — Jacinthe invites Mylia to a party, expanding Mylia's new social world. Characters: Mylia, Jacinthe Location: School
• Mylia Drinks — Mylia attends the party, drinks alcohol, leaves intoxicated, and vomits. Characters: Mylia, Jacinthe Location: Party
• Recovery On The Reserve — Jimmy's grandmother lets Mylia recover on a couch after she leaves the party. Characters: Mylia, Jimmy Location: Jimmy's home on the reserve
• Mylia Hides The Drinking — Mylia returns home, finds Henri on the couch, and denies that she was drinking. Characters: Mylia, Henri Location: Family home
• Camille Uses The Trampoline — Jimmy allows Camille to use his trampoline as Mylia becomes more acquainted with him. Characters: Mylia, Camille, Jimmy Location: Jimmy's home

History And Resistance

A classroom discussion exposes racist historical narratives about Indigenous peoples. Jimmy's anger leads to a hallway fight and suspension, bringing cultural conflict into Mylia's school life.

Key Events

• Racist History Discussion — Students discuss European accounts portraying Indigenous peoples through a racist perspective. Characters: Mylia, Jimmy, Jacinthe Location: History classroom
• Jimmy Fights In Hallway — Jimmy reacts physically to the racist discussion and is suspended after fighting boys in the halls. Characters: Jimmy, Mylia Location: High school hallway
• Halloween Plans — Jacinthe invites Mylia to a Halloween party despite its conflict with Camille's birthday. Characters: Mylia, Jacinthe, Camille Location: School and family home

The Cost Of Choosing

Mylia chooses the Halloween party over Camille's birthday and clashes with Jimmy over their costumes. She rejects Vincent's advances and begins confronting the consequences of her choices.

Key Events

• Jimmy Reveals Costume — Jimmy says costumes reveal one's true self and says he will dress as an Indian. Characters: Mylia, Jimmy Location: Near the reserve
• Costume Argument — Mylia describes her Fifth Harmony costume, and Jimmy criticizes it as sexualized, offending her. Characters: Mylia, Jimmy Location: Near the reserve
• Camille Feels Abandoned — Camille becomes upset after learning Mylia will miss her birthday for the Halloween party. Characters: Mylia, Camille Location: Family home
• Mylia Rejects Vincent — Peer pressure leads Mylia toward Vincent, but she stops when his sexual advances make her uncomfortable. Characters: Mylia, Jacinthe, Vincent Location: Halloween party

A Different Beginning

Nathalie and Henri announce their separation, forcing the family to move. Mylia tells Jimmy she loves him, then later embraces her difference at a new school.

Key Events

• Parents Announce Separation — Nathalie and Henri reveal their separation and tell the girls that Nathalie will move them from the house. Characters: Mylia, Camille, Nathalie, Henri Location: Family home
• Mylia Leaves Home — Upset by the family news, Mylia leaves the home and encounters Jimmy. Characters: Mylia, Jimmy Location: Outside the family home
• Mylia Confesses Love — Mylia tells Jimmy that she loves him during the family's emotional crisis. Characters: Mylia, Jimmy Location: Outside the family home
• A New School — After time passes, Mylia attends a new school and writes to Jimmy about her experiences. Characters: Mylia Location: New school
• Embracing Difference — Mylia says classmates find her unusual and concludes that she does not want to be like everyone else. Characters: Mylia, Jimmy Location: New school

Story Breakdown

• Family And Home — Mylia's household initially provides structure but later becomes unstable through her parents' separation.
  • Sisterly Protection — Mylia supports Camille through bullying, while Camille depends on her as her only friend.
  • Parental Separation — Nathalie and Henri reveal their separation and the resulting move from the family home.
• School Transition — Starting high school exposes Mylia to new academic relationships and unfamiliar social pressures.
  • Locker Encounter — Mylia finds her locker beside Gab's but receives a cold response from her cousin.
  • History Partnership — Jacinthe recruits Mylia for homework help, creating their academic and social connection.
• Party Culture — Mylia enters a social world shaped by alcohol, peer pressure, and contested expectations.
  • Drinking Incident — Mylia drinks at Jacinthe's party, becomes sick, and wakes up at Jimmy's home.
  • Boundary Setting — Mylia stops Vincent's unwanted advances after feeling pressured by her friends.
• Indigenous Connection — Jimmy's connection to the reserve gives Mylia a personal relationship with the cultural tensions surrounding her school.
  • Reserve Hospitality — Jimmy's grandmother lets Mylia recover, and Jimmy later lets Camille use his trampoline.
  • Growing Affection — Mylia and Jimmy become increasingly acquainted before she tells him that she loves him.
• Historical Conflict — School lessons about European contact reveal how racist historical narratives provoke resistance.
  • Racist Readings — Students question passages that describe Indigenous people through the settlers' racist perspective.
  • Suspension — Jimmy fights boys in the hallway after the discussion and is suspended.
• Identity Formation — Mylia gradually rejects conformity and develops a more independent understanding of herself.
  • Halloween Disagreement — Jimmy criticizes Mylia's planned Fifth Harmony costume, creating a conflict over self-presentation.
  • Embracing Difference — At a new school, Mylia accepts that she is unusual and says she does not want conformity.

Directed by

Geneviève Dulude-De Celles

Key Cast

• Émilie Bierre — Mylia
• Irlande Côté — Camille
• Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie — Jimmy
• Cassandra Gosselin-Pelletier — Jacinthe
• Noémie Godin-Vigneau — Nathalie