Two figures crouch in the woods, carefully examining plants before plucking them from their stems. Jax (Lily Gladstone) instructs the younger Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) on which parts to leave behind. Their picturesque woods outing is interrupted by a fisherman casting a line in a small creek. In an inspired bit of connivery, Jax distracts the man while Roki steals the keys to his truck. It’s the first of many schemes they hatch together in order to survive. 

 

The niece/aunt duo have been left to fend for themselves since Roki’s mother, Tawi (Hauli Sioux Gray), has been missing for several weeks. Jax, who is tough and resourceful, spends the majority of the first half of the movie desperately trying to gain leads on her sister's whereabouts. She visits the strip club where her sister worked (and where she cavorts with sometimes lover, Sapphire (Crystle Lightning)) and shoves a missing poster in the faces of the men who frequent it. Phone calls to the police and FBI lead nowhere, reinforcing the harsh reality that the authorities don’t seem to care when Indigenous women disappear. 

 

Jax tries to keep hope alive for Roki’s sake, but her near-constant worrying conveys that she fears the worst. When the authorities finally do step in, it’s to remove Roki from Jax’s care and place her with a different guardian who happens to be Jax’s white father, Frank (Shea Whigham) and his new wife. This disrupts Roki’s plans to attend the state powwow and perform the mother/daughter dance with Tawi—she is convinced her mom won’t miss the event. Jax makes a rash decision to go on a road trip with her niece to the powwow even as the authorities issue an Amber alert. The chaos that ensues is predictable but culminates in one of the most moving and beautiful scenes at the very end of the film. 

 

Fancy Dance is the first narrative feature film for writer and director Erica Tremblay. She’s from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation and crafts an emotional story about the difficulties and injustices of living on a reservation in the present-day. The movie leans heavily on Gladstone’s talents—they give a reserved but powerful performance. Other actors struggle at times to be natural in front of the camera and some interactions and dialogue exchanges feel stilted. But the strong emotional core of the movie repeatedly relays themes of the strength of family bonds and acts of resistance in the face of racism and poverty. This helps keep the movie engaging despite the small hiccups.