‘Steal Away’ – a tense, sensual, and unsettling story

By Janet Grant

“Steal Away is Clement Virgo at his boldest.”

Clement Virgo’s Steal Away began with the phrase “once upon a time,” but this was no fairy tale. The director’s sixth feature delivered a tense, sensual, and unsettling story that refused to be confined to a single genre.

The film followed Fanny, played by Angourie Rice, a teenager raised in wealth and privilege inside her mother, Florence’s, manor. Her life changed when Cécile, played by Mallori Johnson, entered as a visitor seeking refuge. Their bond grew fast, fueled by attraction and curiosity. That same bond became dangerous as they struggled to see the violence building around them.

Virgo set the story in a world that mixed eras and places. It felt like occupied Europe, Algiers, and the Antebellum South at once. The effect was deliberate. It gave the story weight without tying it to one moment in history. The allegory reached wider because of it.

The performances carried strength. Rice gave Fanny innocence and resistance in equal measure. Johnson’s Cécile dominated the screen with energy and vulnerability. Lauren Lee Smith played Florence with sharp glamour, pushing tension higher every time she appeared.

The screenplay by Tamara Faith Berger blended political and sexual themes with boldness. It drew comparisons to Octavia E. Butler and Angela Carter. Virgo used rhythm, heat, and colour to pull viewers into the same haze that trapped the characters. At times, the pace felt uneven, but it served the design.

Steal Away stood out at TIFF 50 because it took risks. Virgo moved away from realism and created something striking, layered, and challenging. The film asked questions about survival, privilege, and intimacy that lingered well after the credits. “Steal Away pushes beyond realism into something raw and urgent.”

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