This is a spoiler-free article about Erica Tremblay’s “Fancy Dance.” You can read our review here, previously covered at Sundance.
Depicting an engaging portrait of the challenges faced by the Indigenous peoples is a tall order, especially one that connects with audiences and retains both its heart and honesty. Writer-director Erica Tremblay‘s feature directorial debut, “Fancy Dance,” is an emotional story about the struggles of native life; something made double hard no thanks to the failures of modern society in hearing the voices of these marginalized communities.
An Honest Portrayal of the Good, Bad, and Ugly Sides of Everyday Native Life
“Fancy Dance” begins with a woman talking to her niece about survival tips somewhere in the Seneca Cayuga Reservation. It doesn’t take long for the viewers to find the pair, Jax (Lily Gladstone) and her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson), as hustlers trying to scrape by. When they don’t create distractions to steal a random person’s truck, they use sleight-of-hand tricks to get things without paying for them.
Although displaying a tough exterior that clearly shows a hardened spirit thanks to the hardships of everyday Native life, Jax nonetheless cares for her family. And that devotion comes to the fore from the get-go. Her sister, Roki’s mother, has gone missing for quite a while. At the same time, Roki excitedly prepares for the upcoming powwow, wherein many Native American and First Nations communities gather to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. The upcoming powwow means the world to Roki, who expects to dance with her mother during the gathering.
Not knowing her sister’s whereabouts, Jax spends every spare minute trying to find her, while reassuring Roki that her mother would eventually show up just in time for the powwow. However, Jax’s previous brushes with the law, regardless of the severity of her past infractions, gives the impression that she isn’t a qualified guardian for Roki. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s father (a nuanced Shea Whigham), Jax takes the lead in scouring the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother.
What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world and at the mercy of a failed justice system.
Shea Whigham in a scene from “Fancy Dance.” (Photo: imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival).
An Unflinching Exploration of Marginalization of Indigenous Peoples
Working on a script she co-wrote with Miciana Alise, Tremblay helms a coming-of-age story brought to life by Gladstone and Deroy-Olson. As a young woman, Roki needs a strong mother figure, something which Jax can only provide, however temporarily. And even if Frank’s new wife tries hard to reach out to Roki (the awkward conversation about enrolling her to ballet lessons instead of supporting her powwow practices shows the glaring disconnect); it’s clear how much Jax is qualified to provide the maternal presence. Even so, the Child Protective Services believes otherwise, given the criminal infractions Jax has accrued.
More than that, however, Tremblay expertly uses a mystery narrative to explore the systemic racism and marginalization the Indigenous peoples have faced for the longest time. In the film, we see Jax pushing hard for the authorities and her father Frank to do something to find her sister. As the film progresses, we see how the odds are heavily stacked against the Natives. Through her investigation and help from her girlfriend, Jax finds out that her sister had some shady dealings with a few roughnecks; which might shed light on her disappearance.
Nonetheless, despite Jax’s brother serving as police chief, ‘Fancy Dance’ shows the helplessness of the community. The film makes it clear that no one is investigating her sister at all. And the main characters, who all reside in the reservation, feel powerless to prevent their friends and family from disappearing. As for Jax and Roki, the system that continues to fail them finally spurs them into fleeing and seeking some sort of justice on their own.
Isabel Deroy-Olson and Lily Gladstone in a scene from “Fancy Dance.” (Photo: imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival).
‘Fancy Dance’: A Triumph for First-Time Director Erica Tremblay
‘Fancy Dance’ is a spectacular feature directorial debut from Erica Tremblay. Her juxtaposition of settler violence against the strength of Indigenous communities offers a nuanced account of the human costs of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic and the possibilities of healing for those left behind. And with Lily Gladstone and Isabel Deroy-Olson leading the way, we are witnesses to a moving family drama about community, resiliency, and Native identity.
“Fancy Dance” is currently playing at this year’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. The festival goes from October 17th to October 29th. Join us for continual coverage.
