Isabel DeRoy-Olson and Lily Gladstone in a still from ‘Fancy Dance’
Returning after Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone delivers yet another award-worthy performance in documentary filmmaker Erica Tremblay’s feature directorial debut Fancy Dance. If the Martin Scorsese film had her in a place of command that she aced with her subtle acting, in Fancy Dance she is a victim of her circumstances that she tries to escape with unyielding perseverance.
Fancy Dance puts us in the middle of the action right from the get-go; after her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Gladstone) takes care of her niece Roki (Isabel DeRoy-Olson) on the Seneca–Cayuga Nation Reservation. When her custody over the teen is at peril thanks to Jax’s father Frank (Shea Whigham), the two ladies make a run for it. If this isn’t enough, Jax is trying to figure out where her sister might be. She has also promised Roki that she will see her mom at an upcoming powwow, a gathering held for Native American and First Nations communities.
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Fancy Dance (English)
Director: Erica Tremblay
Cast: Lily Gladstone, Isabel DeRoy-Olson, Shea Whigham, Audrey Wasilewski
Run-time: 90 minutes
Storyline: Her sister’s disappearance and risk of losing custody of her niece puts a woman on the run
Despite a running time of 90 minutes, Fancy Dance skilfully unpacks a lot and also gives some of the most layered characters we have seen in recent times. Jax used to peddle drugs for a living in the past, does not think twice before committing petty thefts and has a complicated relationship with her white father who, after the death of their mother, married another white woman. Roki, on the other hand, is an extension of her aunt whose innocence of wanting to dance with her mother at the powwow is slowly stripped away from her as the film progresses.
Isabel DeRoy-Olson and Lily Gladstone in a still from ‘Fancy Dance’
Amidst all of this, the case of Jax’s sister’s disappearances looms in the background thanks to the lackadaisical approach towards the search efforts by the people in power and how it wrecks the peace of those directly involved in it. Despite the overarching theme reminding us of many thrillers including Kate Winslet’s Mare of Easttown, the film never turns into a traditional crime drama. In fact, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is a human rights crisis of violence that’s been threatening Indigenous women for so long that it’s become a common occurrence that unfortunately does not get the level of attention and urgent response it deserves. Along with other jabs against practices like racial profiling, Tremblay holds a mirror up to the trials and tribulations Indigenous women face in their own land; there’s a brilliant scene where Nancy (Audrey Wasilewski), wife of Roki’s grandfather, offers her a pair of ballet shoes while all that Roki wants to do is dance at the powwow.
The film shines when it unapologetically foregrounds its women and the lengths they go to without glamorising or milking their plight. The writing and some remarkable acting make you look past the smaller misses like how predictable the film gets after a while. With strong and unadulterated emotions amplified by marvelous performances, Fancy Dance is a wonderful take on familial bondings and looking out for each other. Give an Oscar to Lily Gladstone already!
Fancy Dance is currently streaming on Apple TV+
