This is a simple story of young love. Daniel is a young boy growing up in Northern Ontario. He lives at a motel with his parents, spending nights in empty rooms and making his own adventurous fun in the stillness of a Canadian winter. He’s removed from the other kids his age, although they try to use him for the perks of his family’s business – namely with the acquisition of booze.

One day, Daniel sees a young girl staying at the motel run off after her parents have a loud and upsetting argument. The two team up and travel through the mostly deserted snow-covered town. They’re children, so their walking adventure is a mix of play and wandering, but it’s their conversations that make Only noteworthy. Reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Sunset, Only follows the pair as they walk and talk. But it isn’t about parties, acquiring booze, school bullies, and trips to the mall – all the mainstays of the usual adolescent fare. Instead, these kids slowly open up to each other, talking about their secrets, their fears, and the thoughts running through their heads.

This is not a quick-paced adventure, nor is it a flashy tale of adolescent love. Those with a short attention span will most likely be immediately turned off, but those with a little patience can dip behind the mellow surface into some great adolescent moments. As a simple, measured character study, Only is more interested in the subtle relationship between two kids than what the two kids do or experience. It’s not every day that a film shows realistic kids that have heart-felt conversations, and for that, Only is worth a glimpse.