[2] The cast also includes Ellie Posadas as Bing's mother Edna, who has recently left her abusive husband but is doing her best to give Bing a stable and loving home environment; Cherish Violet Blood as Marie, Sylvie's mother whose husband's disability has reduced their family to living in a motel, and who is struggling to get the medical system to diagnose her son Johnny (Felix Jedi Ingram Isaac) when he begins to show signs of autism; and Kristen MacCulloch and Conor Casey as Laura's parents Jessica and Cory, a drug addict and a former skinhead who are both ill-equipped to care for a young child and regularly ship her back and forth between their homes with little regard for her own needs.

)"[8] Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that "each child goes through tremendously traumatic episodes – including one third-act incident that nearly shattered my spirit – but it is all in the service of telling stories that will awaken you to the lives of others outside your own socioeconomic bubble.

Crucial to this cinematic alchemy is the work of the film’s young cast: Diaz, Fox and Beitel never feel less than real children caught in untenable situations.

Charming and compelling, each performer arrives like a star already past the point of “up-and-coming.” As much as anything else in Scarborough, the three actors are proof that the future – of the neighbourhood, of Canadian film – is bright as you can imagine.

"[9] Emma Badame of That Shelf had special praise for the performances of the trio of young children at the centre of the story, writing that "Beitel communicates so much with just a look, breaking your heart with her fragility over and over.