I think it’s safe to say that Lily Gladstone owned 2023, and nobody else came close. With multiple projects including The Unknown Country and Killers of the Flower Moon, many have said her best movie only had its world premiere last year, but was never actually released. Fancy Dance, which debuted at Sundance, finally arrives in theaters and Apple TV+ in June, and a new trailer for the acclaimed thriller is here.
Fancy Dance is the directorial debut of filmmaker Erica Tremblay, whom Cortland spoke with at Sundance following its world premiere. The film stars Gladstone alongside Isabel Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay, Shea Whigham, Crystle Lightning and Audrey Wasilewski.
Apple has global rights and plans a theatrical release followed by Apple TV+ streaming later this year.
Here’s the synopsis: 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 goes into finding her sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s father, Frank (Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother. What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world and at the mercy of a failed justice system.
Fancy Dance opens in theaters on June 21st, followed by Apple TV+ on June 28th. Check out Cortland’s review here.
