Hot on the heels of a sublime performance in last year’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” (and a subsequent Oscar night robbery in the Best Actress race), Lily Gladstone is back in “Fancy Dance”, a film that in some ways makes for a great companion piece to “Killers”. Directed by Erica Tremblay in her feature film debut, “Fancy Dance” premiered several months ahead of “Killers” at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It took a while but it finally received a limited theater release and is now available to stream.

Tremblay and her co-writer Miciana Alise hand Gladstone some tricky material which leads to an equally tricky performance. Throughout the film Gladstone projects a tough yet weary exterior. And there’s almost an emotionless quality to her performance which really comes through in her stoic and at times monotone deliveries. It’s a choice that doesn’t always work. But then there are those brilliant moments where Gladstone lets us know there is more than what we see on the surface. Over time, she gives us glimpses of fear, anger, and pain that change our entire perception of her character.

Gladstone plays Jax Goodiron, a young woman living on the Seneca–Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma. Her sister Tawi lives a troubled life which leaves Jax as the primary caregiver for her 13-year-old niece Roki (Isabel DeRoy-Olson). Making matters worse, Tawi hasn’t been seen in two weeks which has raised the attention of the Indian Child Welfare agents. Jax is used to her sister taking off but never for this long. She’s reported Tawi missing, but with the exception of her half-brother JJ (Ryan Begay), a member of the Indian tribal police, neither the Sheriff’s Department or the feds seem interested.

Among Jax’s more intriguing facets is the fact that she isn’t a particularly good person. She shoplifts, steals cars and sells them to a salvage yard, and even runs drugs for a local hood named Boo (Blayne Allen). Worst of all, she often involves her niece in many of her crimes.

Yet the film still manages to earn our sympathy for Jax by revealing her to be a victim of her seemingly unbreakable circumstances. Her world is presented through an authentic and distinctly indigenous lens that reveals a segment of society too often ignored. Trembley’s clear-eyed and unvarnished representation immerses us into a firmly grounded setting. In essence, we sympathize for Jax’s plight because we’re able to understand the obstacles she has faced and the barriers she still endures.

Another reason we’re sympathetic is because Jax genuinely loves Roki and is taking care of her the best way she knows how. It’s clear that Jax was thrust into a maternal role she was never equipped for. Yet she only wants Roki to be happy, even if it means telling her that Tawi will be back in time for the mother-daughter dance at a powwow in Tulsa. But Jax knows that grows more and more unlikely the longer Tawi is missing.

While one aim of the film is to shine a light on the epidemic of missing Native American women and the ambivalence towards their disappearances, another hones in on the thorny subject of foster care and child welfare within the indigenous communities. This is explored most when Child Protective Services remove Roki from her home and temporarily places her with Jax’s estranged white father Frank and his new wife Nancy (Audrey Wasilewski). It spurs Jax to make some well-meaning yet rash choices that sends the film’s second half in a much more dire direction.

There are instances in “Fancy Dance” where characters and their intentions aren’t fully fleshed out, and the film’s pacing sometimes undermines the potency of its messaging. But for the most part Tremblay speaks volumes and not through heavy-handed sermonizing. Instead, she speaks through her richly textured and detailed depiction of reservation life. And she conveys an array of real-life social issues through the experiences of individuals navigating that life. It shows her competency as a filmmaker and her trust in the audience to put in the effort. “Fancy Dance” is now streaming on AppleTV+.

VERDICT – 3 STARS