My Prairie Home is a lovely and brilliant film. It does a great job at the outset of setting up the viewer's expectations. Our protagonist, Rae Spoon, whose made over a dozen cross-country trips on Greyhound buses, tells us there's " something meditative about traveling. You're confined to one spot, yet you're moving. You can't be where you're going yet, and you can't be where you left, so you end up in this in between space. You have to remain calm and not be too focused on where you're going or else you get impatient."
That's good advice for watching this film. My Prairie Home invites viewers to take a seat, look out the window at the passing scenery, listen, dream, and let the story wash over you.
There's lots to be had here in Rae's insights on her life and the gorgeous cinematography and visual transitions that complement the storyline. It's a unique perspective that doesn't often get a lot of airtime.
If you're here looking for a typical "transition" story, this is not it. You will best enjoy the journey if you don't think about the destination. What the film does offer is a poetic, lyrical, and quirky look at gender identify in the Prairies through the lens of an outsider who... belongs.
I'm looking forward to checking out McMullan's other work. What a gem!
