Fancy Dance (2024, dir. Erica Tremblay)

by Jack Martin | Jun 29, 2024

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 91 mins

UK Distributor: Apple TV+

UK Release Date: 28 June 2024

WHO’S IN FANCY DANCE?

Lily Gladstone, Isabel DeRoy-Olson, Ryan Begay, Crystle Lightning, Audrey Wasilewski, Shea Whigham, Dennis Newman

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Erica Tremblay (director, writer, producer), Miciana Alise (writer), Deidre Backs, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Tommy Oliver and Heather Rae (producers), Carolina Costa (cinematographer), Robert Grigsby Wilson (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

An Indigenous woman (Gladstone) goes on the run with her young niece (DeRoy-Olson)…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON FANCY DANCE?

Lily Gladstone may not have won the Best Actress Oscar for her devastating role in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon (graciously losing to Emma Stone for her own career-best turn in Poor Things), but if director Erica Tremblay’s Fancy Dance is any indication, then an Academy Award is definitely in her future.

For years, the Indigenous actor – who hails from the Blackfeet Nation Reservation in Montana – has been quietly gaining attention for a number of supporting roles in films like Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, with reviews for those films noting Gladstone as a serious talent to watch. Those predictions paid off last year, when her standout turn in Scorsese’s epic finally put her – and, by extension, many other Native film performers – firmly in the spotlight, and now with Fancy Dance, which Tremblay also co-wrote with Miciana Alise, Gladstone establishes herself as a fierce screen presence that is impossible to cast aside.

She, of course, excels in this tense and emotionally charged drama, in which she plays Jax, a small-time hustler who is fiercely devoted to her thirteen-year-old niece Roki (an equally strong turn by young actor Isabel DeRoy-Olson), especially after the girl’s mother, and Jax’s sister, suddenly goes missing. Jax is frustrated as the search doesn’t seem to be taken seriously by law enforcement, of which her brother JJ (Ryan Begay) is an officer. What’s more, due to Jax’s past criminal record, she is deemed unfit to be Roki’s legal guardian, with that responsibility falling to Jax’s the girl’s well-meaning but ultimately clueless – and very, for lack of a better phrase, White – grandparents, including Jax’s estranged father Frank (Shea Whigham). Concerned that Roki is going to miss out on an upcoming powwow event that she’s been saving up for, in addition to seeking answers regarding the whereabouts of her sister/Roki’s mother, Jax ends up kidnapping her niece and setting off on a trip to fulfil her promise, even with the authorities closing in on them.

Unlike Scorsese’s film, which received some criticism for steering the focus away from the Native residents at the heart of its story, Fancy Dance keeps the Indigenous perspective firmly in its centre. Tremblay – who herself hails from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation Reservation in Oklahoma, which her film partially takes place in – creates a grounded environment that rings authentic to not just the local Natives but also to their culture, with much of their dialogue being delivered in the local Cayuga language, and an emphasis on Native traditions without bogging itself down with stereotypical imagery. There is also a pristine beauty to these areas, even in the much grungier corners like a seedy strip club where Gladstone’s Jax spends some time in, as cinematographer Carolina Costa captures the warm and almost inviting appeal of this reservation, in spite of its noticeably rundown and drug-infested nature.

Meanwhile, Tremblay carefully paces her film to keep the engagement levels high, with short but powerful bursts of tension every little and often coming in to ensure your breath is continuously held, such as a heated encounter with gun-toting drug dealers or, arguably more terrifying, a later run-in with an ICE officer. There are times when you feel that the drama could use a strong sense of urgency, with the law enforcement that’s chasing after the two fugitives being largely ineffective in their pursuit, but the filmmaker does well to maintain audience interest in this story, certain tragic revelations that come to light during the commotion, and especially the main characters as they work their way through one thing after another. It leads to an emotionally satisfying climax that foregoes a more standard approach – to where I can certainly understand why some people may feel it ends abruptly – and keeps everything rooted in the characters’ strong relationship as well as their shared culture.

It is made all the more effective by how exceptional the two main performers are in this film. Gladstone, of course, is on top form as she effortlessly combines her character’s initial frustrations with a much deeper sense of regret and guilt, which she uses to create a performance that wins you over even when the person she is playing doesn’t make many wise decisions, and in some cases makes things even worse for her overall outcome. She works wonderfully opposite Isabel DeRoy-Olson, who similarly finds a line between pre-teen naivety and full-on precociousness without feeling forced or overly cutesy, particularly when she too is faced with some alarming dilemmas that make things a whole lot more complicated for both her and Jax. The characters have a strong dynamic, with the inquisitive Roki constantly pressing her more streetwise aunt on answers regarding their heritage and the nature of more affluent people in their world, as well as the non-judgemental process of menstruating for the first time. You certainly understand their connection with each other, almost to a point where you can understand not only why Jax would kidnap her niece but also why Roki would willingly go along with it.

It is, minor quibbles such as an underdeveloped sub-plot involving the search for Roki’s mother aside, an engrossing debut feature for Tremblay, who manages to present a fresh and universal look into the Indigenous experience while staying true to its own roots. Plus, it’s further proof that Lily Gladstone will, indeed, win her already overdue Oscar at some point in the illustrious career that she is on the cusp of launching into the stratosphere.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Fancy Dance is an engrossing feature from director and co-writer Erica Tremblay that presents a fresh and authentic Indigenous perspective within a tense and emotionally charged story, which also features a truly captivating lead performance by Lily Gladstone.