GRADE: B+

In something of an update of his brilliant examination of isolation, loss and longing—1989’s “Speaking Parts,” which wove into its plot the influence video and satellite communications technology was beginning to have on interpersonal relationships—Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration” takes the investigation one step further by examining the impact of the internet.

Utilizing a time-shifting narrative structure as he has before, Egoyan’s story also mimics previous efforts with a plot that focuses on a group of disparate people who have suffered a personal loss and their struggles in its aftermath to create something of a myth to make the context of their respective losses more meaningful.

The nature of each of these losses is at first a mystery. But as the story slowly unfolds, successive layers are peeled back to reveal a complicated and engrossing mosaic of interconnected lives and the pursuit of understanding.

That search involves a teenage boy who’s been living with his 30-year old uncle for a handful of years following the deaths of his parents; the boy’s grandfather, who has convinced his grandson that his father’s negligence was responsible for their deaths; and one of the boy’s teachers, a woman who has encouraged him to fabricate a story about how his parents died as part of an experiment she’s conducting.

When the kid finally agrees to his teacher’s wishes, he embraces the project with open arms, and the result is a tantalizing tale so well conceived that everyone believes it to be a truthful account of what actually happened to the boy’s parents.

Within no time, the kid’s story is all over the Internet, the subject of intense debate in chat rooms and among various user groups. But it isn’t long before the tall tale begins to take on a life of its own, spilling into parts unknown. And in another ironic twist (and display of Egoyan’s screenwriting skills), the more the boy’s story is called into question, the more viewers learn about the real motives of the uncle, grandfather and high school teacher.

Exquisitely mounted and composed with painterly affection (like all Egoyan films), “Adoration” is a contemplative exercise containing many reflective moments and heartrending revelations. It’s compactly constructed, the plot points are never belabored, and it has a unique quality that draws you in with several teasing mysteries and a surefooted ultimate goal.

That goal is to illustrate the simple fact that there is no real substitute for interacting with someone face-to-face (though even this medium is fraught with potential peril), and that true love is as much a source of solace as it is a home for selfishness and deception.

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