Many might hope to be as lucky in life as Québécois writer Mathyas Lefebure, whose personal crisis of young-adult life spawned a move from Canada to France in order for him to pursue a brand-new vocation as a shepherd – sans any shepherding experience at all. This story of a Canadian run amok in France’s Provence region was written by Lefebure himself in his 2006 roman à clef about these experiences, D’òu viens-tu, berger? (lit. “Where Are You From, Shepherd?”). Now, Canadian filmmaker Sophie Deraspe brings Lefebure’s tale to the big screen with Shepherds, after a stint in television and her previous film Antigone (which secured the Best Canadian Feature Award at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival). The Deraspe- and Lefebure-co-written Shepherds has just premiered as a TIFF Special Presentation at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

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Unfulfilled in his life and chosen career, Mathyas (Félix-Antoine Duval), a writer from Montréal, moves to the Provence countryside to pursue life as a shepherd. Driven by a yen for adventure, he wishes to gain ideas for writing, but shepherding is not for the faint of heart. His “small” problems – a lack of any experience whatsoever as a shepherd and failing to hold a valid visa – are mere hoops to jump through, even though the life-hardened locals he first meets laugh in his face. In Provence, he encounters a sympathetic immigration bureaucrat, Élise (Solène Rigot), who immediately takes a liking to his stubborn nature and departs to be with Mathyas. Soon, the newfound lovers – Mathyas envisions making sensual love in the tall grass – begin a new life in an unfamiliar line of work taking jobs from local farmers, first Gérard (Bruno Raffaelli) and, later, Cécile (Guilaine Londez).

“C’est toute la rêverie,” ponders Mathyas as he gazes out onto the idyllic, lush green countryside. There's never any question that he will succeed down his new path: that story is not the film’s modus operandi. With this comes a sense of unacknowledged privilege in his journey, but it’s quickly eclipsed by the playful spirit embedded in the story. This becomes the film’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness: while it’s so easy to root for Mathyas, the trials and tribulations he faces feel too easy, too straightforward. For the pair, no hardship is too intense, no hurdle too great to jump over, even if that means herding and keeping safe 827 sheep with a Border Collie that also followed Mathyas into his new life.

Mathyas is charming but never swashbuckling, with the two largely coasting along until the film’s final moments amidst a story with shallow stakes. The lack of any significant narrative conflict leaves Shepherds as a visually beautiful but mostly unmemorable tale that rides primarily on the allure of the pastoral cinematography by Vincent Gonneville. At least the audience is left reflecting: may each and every person’s existential crisis lead to an idyllic new life in the south of France.

Shepherds is a Canadian-French co-production by Montréal-based micro_scope and Paris-based Avenue B Productions. Its world sales are handled by Pyramide International.