>>PREVIEW
EIGHT DAYS TO LIVE
May 28 at 9 p.m.
CTV
Five years ago, a then 19-year-old Joe Spring went missing. Spring had left his parent’s house in Aldergrove, B.C., headed northeast towards the town of Quesnel, when he vanished. A new, original CTV "movie of the week" titled Eight Days to Live recounts the ordeal Joe’s family went though in trying to find and potentially rescue him.
Canadian actress Kelly Rowan of the Fox drama series The O.C. stars as Joe’s mother Teresa. In the film, she’s the first to realize Joe may be in serious jeopardy and pours herself into the arduous process of uncovering the events that led to his disappearance.
The makers of Eight Days utilize a compelling storytelling technique. They include the viewer in the investigation by keeping us initially clueless about what really happened to Joe Spring. Each time his mother uncovers something new, we’re treated to a flashback sequence that shows exactly what happened to Joe at a particular location.
Joe is played by Vancouver actor Dustin Milligan, 20, who says this technique was what he liked about the film. "It’s not just one side of the story, delivered in an expository style that gives everything away. It’s a good Canadian story that plays on all the right levels. It’s got the mother’s personal drama and the emergency factor."
Much of the film plays out as a race against time. Eight Days refers to the maximum period a person could be expected to live on his or her own in the wilderness of the B.C. Interior without intervention. Milligan, like his character, had to deal with the elements, too, as much of the movie was shot on location near Squamish, B.C. over some brisk days in November and December of 2005.
"It wasn’t too bad," he says of the outdoor shooting days. "I’m originally from Yellowknife, so I was kind of enjoying the mild temperatures. If I had been back home, it would have been minus 40 and just plain ridiculous."
Milligan’s role in Eight Days marks a significant first in the young actor’s career. "I had never played an actual person before," the three-year professional acting vet says. "To be able to do that, and actually meet and speak with the person (Joe Spring) only five years after everything happened, is pretty interesting and kind of surreal."
Milligan’s consultations with the real-life Spring pay substantial dividends in the execution of the film. He portrays the lost young man in Eight Days as a somewhat naive, vulnerable and down-to-earth figure that even the most cynical viewer will want to see out of harm’s way. |
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