Lost and Delirious

Mary (nicknamed Mouse) is a new student at the all girls' boarding school, and dorms with Pauline (nicknamed Paulie) and Victoria (nicknamed Tori). In an effort to get the shy Mary to break out of her shell, Paulie and Tori involve her in their activities, such as running in the mornings. When they hear that Mary's mother has died, Paulie nicknames her "Mary Brave."

Mary observes the intimacy between her two dorm mates. Peering out a window at night, she sees them kissing on a roof. Paulie and Tori's relationship is close and Paulie is full of life. At one point she turns a quiet afternoon on the campus into a music-blasting dance party and spikes the punch. In another moment, she defends Victoria from a frustrated math teacher who humiliates her when she does not understand basic math.

When the three are running one day, Paulie comes across a hurt falcon, which she befriends. After reading up on falcons, she trains the animal. While she is tending to the falcon, Mary and Tori come across some boys from the nearby boys school. One flirts with Tori, asking if she will be attending her brother's 18th birthday party and making it clear that he likes her. When Mary and Tori are alone, Tori expresses disgust at the boy's interest in her, saying, "He liked my tits." When Mary asks if she'll go to the party, Tori says, "And have all those gross guys groping me? I'd rather stay home."

Over time, Paulie and Tori become more comfortable showing affection in front of Mary. It progresses from a quick kiss on the lips in front of her, to the two sharing a bed while Mary is sleeping.

One morning, Tori's sister and friends rush into the room to wake up the older girls. Paulie is lying in Tori's bed, and it is clear that the two are topless. Horrified silence falls over everyone, and Paulie unconvincingly claims she was in bed with Tori because the latter has nightmares.

Mary pushes Tori's sister out of the room and closes the door. Tori angrily tells Paulie to get out of her bed. When confronted by her sister, she tries to extinguish her sister's suspicions by telling her Paulie has an unrequited crush on her and crawled into her bed. Her sister promises to "fix" the rumors about Tori and not tell their parents anything. As she walks away from this conversation, Tori collapses into tears.

In the library, Tori explains to Mary that her family, her parents and her sister, are strongly homophobic, and she must stop the relationship to prevent their rejection. Mary sympathizes with both of her friends, as she too feels rejected by her father, who does not bother to show up to a father/daughter dance. The break up is not clean however. Paulie degenerates into psychotic abusive behavior, like destroying a mirror and thrashing a dish cart to the floor. She is sent further over the edge after receiving a letter from the agency that handled her adoption saying that her birth mother refused a request from Paulie to get in touch. Meanwhile, Tori dates the guy she met from the boys school and hardly speaks to Paulie.

Tori has sex with her boyfriend, which prompts Paulie to declare a duel with him. After she kicks his leg, during a fencing match, throwing him to the ground, she demands that he give up her queen. When he brushes her off, she stabs him in the leg. Mary rushes to stop her. Paulie then runs off. Mary runs to Victoria's soccer match, which is being watched by the principal and the main teacher. Just after reaching the group, Mary sees Paulie, sobbing from the top of a building. Crying out for her beloved, she jumps to her death.

• Piper Perabo as Pauline "Paulie" Oster
• Jessica Paré as Victoria "Tori" Moller
• Mischa Barton as Mary "Mouse" Bedford
• Jackie Burroughs as Fay Vaughn
• Mimi Kuzyk as Eleanor Bannet
• Graham Greene as Joe Menzies
• Emily VanCamp as Allison, Tori's sister
• Amy Stewart as Cordelia
• Caroline Dhavernas as Kara
• Luke Kirby as Jake
• Alan Fawcett as Bruce, Tori's father
• Peter Oldring as Phil
• Grace Kung as Lauren

The film garnered a mixed reaction from critics. Based on 59 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, it is certified "rotten," with an approval rating of 51 percent; the site's consensus is that "Lost and Delirious becomes exactly that, as the film sinks into overwrought melodrama and clichéd, obvious symbolism."[3]

The performances of Perabo, Paré and Barton were, however, widely praised.[4] Perabo's performance in particular received critical acclaim, which Loren King of the Chicago Tribune remarked was her "breakout performance".[5] Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman called her "an actress of glittering ferocity" and her performance "a geyser of emotion".[6] Jim Lane of the Sacramento News & Review said that "Perabo is a revelation, wild and fiery—it’s a breakthrough performance, astonishing in its fervency"[7] and Roger Ebert praised her performance for its sincerity and "wonderful abandon and conviction". Ebert went on to give the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, writing that the film "stirred within me memories of that season in adolescence when the heart leaps up in passionate idealism—and inevitably mingles it with sexual desire." Ebert praised Pool as she "creates a lush, thoughtfully framed, and composed film; her classical visual style lends gravitas to this romantic story."[8]

Bishop's College School Ross Hall where part of Lost and Delirious filmed

The movie was filmed in Lennoxville, Quebec on the Bishop's University Campus and across the St Francois River at residential, private co-ed secondary school Bishop's College School. Students attending summer classes there during filming were used as extras.

• Original score by Yves Chamberland
• "Beautiful"

Written and Performed by Meshell Ndegeocello

Maverick Records

• "Add It Up"

Performed by Violent Femmes

Written by Gordon Gano

Beyond Music

• "You Had Time"

Written and Performed by Ani DiFranco

Righteous Babe Records

• "River Waltz"

Performed by Cowboy Junkies

Written by Michael Timmins

Cowboy Junkies Inc.

• "Sanctus" from Missa Luba

Performed by Muungano National Choir

Universal Music

• List of LGBT films directed by women
• List of lesbian filmmakers

• Lost and Delirious at IMDb
• A tribute website