User Reviews

"God I hate Surrey, it's like the entire city is stuck in a time warp, " complains Amy (Jennifer Copping) the rookie caseworker assigned to the area. Lines like this and scenes which depict the municipality as the West Coast Canadian equivalent of South Central L.A. won't endear writer/director Bruce Spangler to the local Chamber of Commerce. Call "Protection" the anti-tourism movie. There is a documentary like realism to scenes where a stressed out social worker (Nancy Sivak) struggles to make a decision after talking with a drug addicted welfare mom (Jillian Fargey) and her ex-con boyfriend (William McDonald) about the possibility of child abuse. Spangler drew on his own experiences as a caseworker with the B.C. Ministry of Children and Families for this gritty yet absorbing look at the brutal realities of the job.

Writer-director Bruce Spangler comes from a background in child protection services, and has fashioned a small, searingly authentic little film about a family falling apart. The mother and her boyfriend are both junkies, and living conditions have degraded to a point where the two children are in peril. The parents may love them, but seem unable to do what is necessary to remain a functioning family.

PROTECTION follows the case of this family as protective services steps in to remove the children from the household. It doesn't chart any conventional paths and presents views from both sides of the fence. This is a raw and at times disturbing film, superbly acted by Nancy Sivak as the social worker, and William MacDonald & Jillian Fargey as the heroin-abusing parents. It is a sharply edited and photographed film, using the underside of Surrey as its locale. This is an extremely commendable film for Bruce Spangler and all concerned.

real plot summary: a reflective docu-drama of a Surrey, Canada family social worker dealing with real issues in a real world. very, very Surrey. This film is not to be taken lightly, its content is very disturbing and for the most part, accurate. Perfect reference for an essay.