Backyard Village is a small and quiet film from Iceland. Two strangers stay in cabins in a place called Backyard Village and connect. Both are broken and need someone to hear and share their pain. They give that to each other.

Backyard Village starts with Brynja (Laufey Elíasdóttir) packed to go somewhere. When the bus arrives, she doesn’t get on. Instead she rents a cottage and settles in for a few days to avoid going where she was headed.

Later in the film we learn that her issue is seeing her mother (Soley Eliasdottir), a woman who abandoned her as a child. Her mother is with her sister Gunnhildur (Eygló Hilmarsdóttir), who has forgiven their mother and wants Brynja to do the same.

An Englishman, Mark (Tim Plester), shows up at Brynja’s door asking for paprika. When it turns out that her cabin has some but his does not, she gives it to him. Then he invites her to eat with him.

Brynja and Mark interact over the next few days. We learn his story about his son, who died in Iceland. Mark knows the exact GPS coordinates of the spot and asks Brynja to drive him there.

They are able to talk to each other, the way strangers often can, and share their hurts. They also do some fun things together – it isn’t all sad.

Since Brynja won’t go to them, Brynja’s mother and sister show up at her cottage. They get involved with Mark, too.

When their few days together are over, everyone is in a slightly better place. Life can be lived with less pain now.

Like most films made in Iceland, this one is beautiful. The snow, the water, the northern lights, the people and places. It’s all shot beautifully. There were a lot of shots from high above, which seemed a bit much to me, but perhaps there was some message in that I wasn’t seeing.

If you like intimate and personal films, this one will probably be a hit with you. It’s always a treat to find such a good hidden gem. It’s streaming on Prime Video, Fawesome, Plex, The Roku Channel, and Tubi.