The Hanging Garden (1997)

In the verdant realm of rural Nova Scotia, we meet Sweet William, a man christened after a flower, whose past is as thorny as a rose bush. His childhood was a garden of hardships, watered by the alcohol-fueled neglect of his father, Whiskey Mac, who prioritized horticultural knowledge over paternal care. As a gay teenager grappling with his identity, William was frequently the thistle in the close-knit fabric of his family, including his mother Iris, who, in denial about his homosexuality, took drastic steps to suppress it, and his devoutly Catholic grandmother, Nana, whose affection for him soured upon discovering his sexual orientation. This familial turmoil was perhaps the root cause of his adolescent obesity, a manifestation of his self-loathing. A decade has passed, and the once troubled and overweight William has blossomed into a thriving gay man in the city. He returns to his family home for the first time since his departure, not as an unwelcome weed, but as an unexpected bloom, surprising his family by attending his sister Rosemary's wedding. His unexpected return stirs up the soil of the past, revealing that time has left many things untouched, apart from Nana's encroaching dementia and the introduction of his spirited younger sister Violet, born after his departure. Despite his transformation, William finds himself tangled in the vines of his past as he grapples with a haunting vision in the family garden, a spectral reminder of his tormented adolescence. As he confronts the ghosts of his past, his family, including Rosemary's groom and childhood friend Fletcher, must also face their own histories and reconcile with the changes in William to move forward. "The Hanging Garden" is a poignant exploration of a man's journey back to his roots, where family, identity, and memory intertwine like the tendrils of a vine, revealing that homecomings are often more than just a return to a physical place, but a revisitation of one's past and a reckoning with one's growth.

The Hanging Garden is a drama movie featuring Peter MacNeill and directed by Thom Fitzgerald.

The Hanging Garden is currently streaming for free (ad-supported) on Tubi TV and it's also available on Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, MGM Plus Amazon Channel, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel and fuboTV.

It is also possible to buy The Hanging Garden on Amazon Video and Apple TV.