The Ring is a coming-of-age drama where 12-year-old Jessy sees his destiny and vows to fight it. Weighing down on Jessy is his brother’s life as a drug trafficker, his sister’s uncomfortable, burgeoning sexuality, a runaway junkie mother, and a despondent father. In a neighborhood wracked by poverty and hopelessness, Jessy’s escape is in the Friday evening wrestling matches in a church basement. Together with a local homeless man, Jessy comes to grips with his world, becomes disillusioned, and finally chooses to rise above his station. Anais Barbeau-Lavalette is a filmmaker long interested in disadvantage and its impact on all of us, and through Jessy, she and writer Renee Beaulieu illustrate a segment of Quebec society rarely shown or discussed ? one that has been “blown apart” by poverty and submission. A gritty and gripping debut.