Among The Cinders

In this earnest and fairly successful adaptation of a best-selling novel from New Zealand, Paul O'Shea is a young man badly rattled after a hunting accident kills his best friend and seriously wounds him. Feeling guilty about the accident, O'Shea goes to stay with his grandparents. He is making some progress toward recovery when his grandmother suddenly dies. To protect the boy from another shock, his grandfather takes him back into the bush and shows him the areas he used to roam when he was a lad. Then O'Shea meets Rebecca Gibney, an older girl who helps him deal with his emotions. Well acted and skillfully directed, the film does suffer from its all too apparent...