Still reeling from a personal tragedy, Jim (John Cassini), a wealthy Vancouver executive, wanders the city’s streets, holes up in upscale hotels, and finds fleeting solace in the facsimiles of intimacy his considerable salary can afford him. When he unexpectedly forges a genuine connection with Nikki (Teagan Vincze), a younger escort, he can’t prevent himself from distorting their unlikely friendship, unintentionally recasting her as someone precious who’s been taken from him.

As this character study unfolds, Cassini and writer-director Anthony Shim boldly push every scene in unexpected directions. To wit, Jim and Nikki’s fateful first encounter hardly goes to script. What should be an impersonal transaction instead extends into something significantly more meaningful. The centrepiece sequence not only demonstrates Cassini’s considerable range as a performer – with Vincze proving an equally nimble dance partner – but also the confidence that Shim brings to his first feature. When it comes to sensitive subject matter, this isn’t a film that’s content simply to “go there,” it’s assured enough to stay there and explore the involving drama that develops in these moments of relief and reckoning.