The parade of smaller independent features continues to bump up against the blockbusters as the Summer continues to sizzle. Here’s a quirky drama that has similar themes to the modestly budgeted period piece from last weekend THE BIKERIDERS. In that film, a group of motley outsiders in the early 60s forged a family via a motorcycle club. Family is at the forefront of this film, though it’s set in the modern day, and rather than Windy City bikers, we’re given a look inside Native American culture. Oh, and as in the former flick, the principals are often living on the “wrong side” of the law, having to dodge the authorities, giving an added meaning to its title, FANCY DANCE.
The story takes us inside the world of thirty-something Jax (Lily Gladstone) and her teenage niece Roki (Isabel DeRoy-Olson) who share a home on the Seneca-Cayuga Nation Reservation in Oklahoma. Life has been hard since Jax’s sister, and Roki’s mother Tawi disappeared two weeks ago. The duo resort to lower-class crimes in order to survive, from a version of “three-card Monte” (“Find the corn”) to stealing cars. A big chunk of the cash is set aside for the upcoming tribal powwow in Tulsa. Roki believes that Tawi will return in order to join her there at the big mother/daughter dance AKA the “fancy dance”. Jax is not so optimistic since the tribal police led by blood relation JJ (Ryan Begay) can’t expand the search and the feds seem to be indifferent. Things become more complicated after a visit to Jax’s estranged father Frank (Shea Whigham), who’s not part of the tribe, and his new wife Nancy (Audrey Wasilewski). Soon after the two return home, Child Protective Services arrive to hand Roki over to her grandfather due to Jax’s criminal record (mostly selling weed to the oil rig workers), But the bond between the aunt and niece is so strong that Jax gets Roki away from Frank’s place in order to make the long trek to Tulsa, and follow a few leads on Tawi along the way. Can they get there in time, now that the two are trying to evade the statewide manhunt that has put their faces on nearly every screen? And could there be a mother-and-daughter reunion?
Proving that her bravado turn in last year’s epic KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON was no fluke, Ms. Gladstone ably carries the lead role as the flawed but brave Jax. Though she’s the eldest daughter in the film, it seems as though the odds are always against her, which perhaps leads to her shady past and dubious current crimes. Gladstone conveys that anger and frustration, especially at the lack of official concern for her missing sister. And though she is indeed a “bad influence” Jax truly nurtures her niece, even shielding her from the world’s cruelties. As Roki, DeRoy-Olson is the story’s warm sunshine, a teen full of joy and wonder, thinking that her mother will join her in her dance rehearsals very soon. She’s even open to her emotionally distant grandfather Frank, who is given a surly demeanor by the always compelling Whigham. He gives us the impression that the culture of his late wife never really mattered much to him, though he now feels obligated by his new wife, which Wasilewski plays as an awkward, but sweet, caring lady who yearns for an extended family with Roki. Kudos also to Crystle Lightening as Tawi’s co-worker at a strip club, who has a tenuous romance with the sullen Jax.
The terrific cast is expertly guided by director Erica Tremblay in her narrative feature debut which she co-scripted with Miciana Alise. It’s tightly paced, deftly flowing from heartbreaking family drama to suspenseful “on the run” road picture, with frequent dives into the tribal customs, from the powwows to the tense interaction with the feds. And even as Jax and Roki are racking up crimes, Tremblay makes us care for them and even root for them to stay ‘on the lam”. We never quite know where the journey will take these two plucky fugitives, or what danger is lurking behind any door or around the corner. The undercurrent of anger between Jax and Frank is nothing compared to her following a lead on Tawi by meeting with a hair-trigger pot “queenpin” or an officious ICE agent outside a mall. Perhaps the most nerve-wracking sequence is when Jax enters a cramped trailer to try and squeeze some info from a group of oilmen who only want to party after buying some weed, reminding me of a similar hair-raising scene from 2017’s WIND RIVER which also dealt with the epidemic of missing Native American women. And, there are also familiar themes from KILLER MOON as the authorities put these cases way, way on the back burner. All these elements mesh effectively into a very engaging “call to action” and a rough-edged portrait of a family clingingly to each other despite the odds. This FANCY DANCE is never flashy, but it’s one of the year’s most compelling films.
3.5 Out of 4
FANCY DANCE is now playing in select theatres and it streams exclusively on Apple TV+ beginning on Friday, June 21, 2024
