Fancy Dance
Films similar to “Fancy Dance” have been made before, where a family member takes another family member on a road trip- often against other people’s wishes- and they bond, and learn about themselves along the way. What makes Erica Tremblay’s film different is how her and her co-writer, Miciana Alise, use the template to highlight systemic racism and the challenges of being thrust into a parental position.
At the Atlanta Film Festival this year, one of the first films I watched was the documentary, “Atikamekw Suns,” which looks at the death of five Native people in 1977, and the apathy of the white law enforcement when it looks so obviously like murder. One of the central threads of “Fancy Dance” involves Jax (played by Lily Gladstone) looking for her sister, Tawi, who went missing weeks ago, and law enforcement not really caring much about finding her. I hope to never be in the position someone like Jax is in, where a loved one’s disappearance is just not a priority for people. Meanwhile, Jax is having to look after her niece, Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson), but her hold on that is precarious, as well, as her past has deemed her an unsuitable guardian for Roki. Not long after they are separated, this film’s road trip- which has Jax and Roki headed to the Grand Nation Powwow in Oklahoma City- begins, and Jax’s situation with law enforcement only gets murkier.
Tremblay’s approach to this story is straightforward, but always turning the screws to where, when a pivotal phone call is answered, what we think we no is turned on our heads not long afterwards, and it floors us. The rage we feel about the lack of action for Tawi’s disappearance is our primary antagonistic feelings during this film; we ultimately cannot even be upset with Roki’s white grandparents (Shea Whigham and Audrey Wasilewski), whom Child Protective Services leaves Roki with- they are simply pawns in a larger institutional machine that is actively against Native people, and women especially. Gladstone and Deroy-Olson are fantastic in their roles, as each one finds themselves protecting the other from information that might cause them anxiety, but it also threatens to pull them apart, as well. The bond they have, though, is profound, so that- by the end- they find themselves in a moment where their emotions are released, and they find temporary solace in one another. This is a heartfelt and enraging film in equal measure, but it’s ultimately a human one that leaves us hoping to be better people afterwards.
