Joshua Then and Now (1985) Spoiler-Free Summary – What It's About

In the bustling, multilingual heart of Montreal’s St. Urbain Street, a young boy learns that the boundaries between love, work, and faith are as fluid as the city’s ever‑changing rhythm. Joshua grows up in a modest, working‑class household where his father’s bruised‑gloved past as a boxer and his mother’s daring side‑stage as a strip‑tease dancer shape an upbringing that feels both ordinary and oddly theatrical. The street itself, with its storefronts, synagogues, and the occasional clamor of a Bar Mitzvah party, becomes a vivid backdrop for a childhood that is as far from conventional as it is deeply rooted in community.

As adolescence nudges him outward, Joshua discovers a restless curiosity that propels him toward Europe, where a sojourn in Spain awakens a journalistic spark and hints at the possibilities of a life beyond the familiar alleys of his neighbourhood. His subsequent years in England add layers of cultural clash and personal experimentation, furnishing him with a palette of experiences that will later inform his literary voice. The tone of his recollection is at once nostalgic and inquisitive, inviting the audience to ponder how distant horizons can reshape a home‑grown identity.

Returning to Canada, Joshua finds himself entangled with an upper‑class circle through marriage to the daughter of a Canadian senator, a union that introduces him to a world of privilege and expectation that both elevates and unsettles him. Around the tranquil waters of Lake Memphremagog, friendships from his past intersect with new acquaintances, and a self‑absorbed brother‑in‑law adds a further strain of familial complexity. The film’s atmosphere remains introspective, balancing humor and melancholy as it follows Joshua’s ongoing effort to piece together the threads of memory, ambition, and the ever‑present question of what it truly means to belong.