When I read the overview for the movie "Fancy Dance" I was expecting a heartwarming story of an Aunt's love for her niece. Since I'm a child-free Aunt who is wild about my niece and nephew, I knew it would hit close to home. What I ended up getting was more than I could have imagined.
Hot on the heels of her TV directorial debut with Reservation Dogs, Erica Tremblay has delivered a beautiful but gut-wrenching look into the gritty underbelly of Oklahoma's Reservation life and the continuous efforts to bring awareness to MMIWG. Premiering at last year's Sundance Film Festival, "Fancy Dance" tells the story of Jax (flawlessly portrayed by Lily Gladstone) trying to keep custody of her niece Roki (Isabel Delroy-Olson) after her sister's disappearance. Unfortunately Jax's criminal past comes back to haunt her when Roki is taken by Child Protective Services and placed with her white grandparents who are not prepared to raise a Native grandchild.
Keeping a promise to take her niece to an upcoming Powwow, Jax kidnaps Roki and the pair embark on a journey filled with many powerful moments. (There were several gasps from the audience during these scenes.) As Jax reverts back to her old ways to keep the duo on the road, she never stops searching for her sister and demanding answers from the very law enforcement agencies that are trying to find Roki. With another trip to prison looming over Jax, and the realization that her sister isn't coming back this time, she all but gives up after the two spend several intense minutes trying to escape through a corn field. Assuming Roki has been picked up by the cops after losing her in corn maze, Jax finally answers her father's phone call only to discover that they have found her sister's body (played by my friend Hauli Sioux Gray) and Roki is now actually missing.
Knowing exactly where to find Roki, Jax makes her way to the Powwow, which was beautifully filmed on the grounds of First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City. The final moments of this film pack a powerful punch as Jax and Roki reunite to dance together in honor of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, something that Roki and her mother always did. Switching gears to slow-motion, the last seconds of "Fancy Dance" see the two dancing in unison as the cops recognize the duo and start to close in...and the screen fades to black to the sound of war cries and drums. Left with chills and a wad in the pit of my stomach, this film is pure perfection from start to finish. Erica Tremblay is NOT messing around and is here to stay and play with the big boys of film and television!
"Fancy Dance" was accepted into the 2021 Sundance and Screenwriter's Labs. In 2021, Erica was awarded the Walter Bernstein Screenwriting Fellowship, the Maja Kristin Directing Fellowship, the SFFILM Rainin Grant, and the Lynn Shelton of a Certain Age Grant. Since then, "Fancy Dance" has scooped up almost every Film Festival award there is. Lily even used her IndieWire Awards acceptance speech for "Killers Of The Flower Moon" to talk about this film being the highlight of her career. It finally got a theatrical release in June. "Fancy Dance" has maintained a top spot for consecutive weeks on Apple TV+ streaming service.
