Fancy Dance – A Rough But Powerful Indie Drama

Fancy Dance had its world premiere back at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and is directed by Erica Tremblay in her feature film debut. Since her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute of Jax’s life goes into finding her missing sister and helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. When Roki’s grandfather Frank (Shea Whigham) comes into town and threatens to take custody of Roki from Jax, the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. As a whole, the film is simply a rock solid indie with another great Lily Gladstone performance at its center.

Gladstone is absolutely brilliant here as Jax, delivering a subdued and subtle performance that says so much by saying so little. She commands the screen at every turn and is essentially the glue that holds everything together. Gladstone brings audiences into Jax’s headspace and her feelings through her facial expressions alone, but can turn it on and be just as terrific in the film’s more showier scenes. DeRoy-Olson is equally great, delivering a star making performance as Roki while having strong chemistry with Gladstone, creating a believable aunt/niece relationship. Though Whigham isn’t given as much to do as Frank, he once again provides solid work, and it is refreshing that his character isn’t portrayed as the villain is instead given more layers than what many would expect.

In the end, the relationship between Jax and Roki is where the heart of the film ultimately lies. Both are flawed individuals and far from perfect and make lots of mistakes throughout, but that’s what makes them feel so real and lived in. Audiences will be instantly attached to them and hope that somehow they come out okay despite the escalating situation they found themselves in. Through their story, the film explores countless timely topics including the failure of the justice system towards Indigenous communities and the staggering lack of effort regarding missing person cases in said community. It’s frustrating but that’s exactly the point and it makes its final moments all the more tragic and powerful. Meanwhile, the film also deserves credit for successfully blending together multiple different genres and subgenres. A family drama, a road trip film, and a crime mystery all rolled into one, and it strikes a firm balance between those wildly different tones.

That being said, most of the film’s problems lie within its final act and the runtime in general. While it is always refreshing to have a roughly 90-minute film, it truly needed way more time to properly flesh out its themes and story ideas. The film simply tries to tackle too much in too little time and though it never becomes a full on mess, certain elements are explored more efficiently and thoroughly than others. Its ending is clearly designed to frustrate audiences (and it does so in an effective way) but it is also abrupt and leaves a few too many loose ends despite the final scene itself being great. The last act of this film may be where some of its most powerful moments are, but the story definitely could’ve been wrapped up in a better way, or at least had a few additional minutes after where it was unceremoniously cut off.

Fancy Dance is a little rough around the edges like almost every directorial debut is, but it’s still a worthwhile and powerful film that’s worth watching for Lily Gladstone’s incredible performance alone.

still courtesy of Apple TV Plus

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Connor Carey

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