| Director | Paul Gross |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, romance film, war film |
| Runtime | 110 min |
| Country | Canada |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $4.4 million |
Sergeant Michael Dunne of the 10th Battalion, CEF, has survived the Battle of Vimy Ridge but suffers from neurasthenia and is sent home to Calgary, Alberta, for recovery. While in hospital he meets nurse Sarah Mann (Caroline Dhavernas). David Mann (Joe Dinicol), Sarah's younger brother, is ineligible for military service due to asthma but is determined to enlist. The Manns are ostracized when it becomes known their father died at Vimy Ridge fighting for the Germans. The father of David's girlfriend pulls strings to enlist David. Dunne reenlists as a private under his mother's maiden name, McCrae, promising Sarah he will protect her brother.
David and Michael deploy to the Western Front. Sarah also enlists and is assigned as a nurse in triage at an advanced dressing station near the front. The three arrive in Flanders in time for the Battle of Passchendaele. Dunne encounters Sarah when he brings a wounded man to the aid station. His cover as McCrae is blown, but he evades punishment and Lieutenant-Colonel Ormond promotes him to platoon leader on the strength of his reputation and the need for experienced soldiers.
When the Little Black Devils are pinned down by a German counter-attack, Dunne's company is sent to reinforce them. The 8th Battalion withdraws, believing Dunne's company to be their relief. David suffers a stress-induced attack and Dunne calms him temporarily. A German counter-attack breaking into the Canadian line is repelled after close quarters combat. David breaks down, runs after the enemy, and jumps into their trench begging in German. An artillery shell blasts him onto a cross created by duckboards and barbed wire barricades, reminiscent of the crucified soldier myth. Dunne runs to David and is shot but continues crawling to the cross. The Germans stop firing long enough to allow him to carry David back to his own lines. David lives, but Dunne is carried to the hospital where he dies after his last words with Sarah. Word arrives that the Canadians have captured Passchendaele Ridge.
David, using a wheelchair, Sarah Mann, David's girlfriend Cassie, Highway and Dunne's best friend Royster (Gil Bellows) pay tribute at Dunne's grave on his farm. The marker has been altered to remove the "5" of 1915 and changed to 1917. The scene morphs to a giant field of Canadian war graves with a riderless horse on the horizon.