Fancy Dance is a powerful, disquieting film. Written, directed and acted by Native Americans, it gives an unflinching view of life on the rez (reservation). Writer and director, Erica Tremblay (of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation) does not shy away from showing the darker side of things, including the frequent murder of Indigenous women.
Rez life is shown as tough, especially for women. They are seen to survive through sex, drugs, petty crime and general hustling.
On the Seneca-Cayuga Indian reservation in northeast Oklahoma, Jax (Lily Gladstone), her sister Tawi and Tawi’s daughter, Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) all share a house. But before the film begins, Tawi has disappeared. Part mystery, part road trip, part cultural journey, the story tracks Jax’s desperate attempts to find her sister and keep custody of her niece.
