A young indigenous woman Kharis Redwater (Sheena Kaine) is run down and killed at the same time as a phone call to her mom drops on a wooded winter road in a small Alberta indigenous community. All members of the community know her well and were aware of the recent improvements she had made in her life before this tragic event. Tensions were already high in the community as a mining company are on their way in to take from the land. A similar story has occurred for hundreds of years dividing the community between supports and detractors. A surveyor for WEC arrives to do some work along with her boyfriend ho is there to handle some equipment as her regular partner had called in sick. She first smells something fowl then spots a blackbird circling overhead then is attacked by a seemingly invisible force cut to shreds and killed right on the spot. Her untouched boyfriend is the key initial suspect as local Sherriff Mary Stonechild (Madison Walsh) arrives on the scene to investigate.
Director Ruben Martell sets out to tell a story that reaches back to the past but has the modern issues that face indigenous communities right at the forefront. Supernatural forces are afoot right beside multinationals that invade the community, treat the locals as being lesser than but there also residents on either side of the argument. Suspended Ranger Stacey Cole (Sera-Lys McArthur) who suffers from PSTD after a tour of Afghanistan is deputized by The Sherriff after the mysterious deaths continue to occur. The local RCMP officer not being her biggest fan who sees her as a suspect and the community as a whole as possibly suffering from a group psychosis. Sherriff Stonechild and Deputy Cole see the situation different knowing that a vengeful spirit out to protect the land is on the loose.
The film is lead by two strong female leads. Walsh handles herself well while out in the field balancing formal police training and procedures with her knowledge of band traditions and sacred tales. Ranger Cole is a tough as nails experienced hunter and tracker. She takes no guff as clearly shown early on when a WEC employee attempts to gain an upper hand on her but is violently put back in his place. . Elder Carson (Julian Black Antelope) has lived outside the community and returned with a balanced perspective. The Band members need jobs. WEC can offer good paying ones and opportunities therefore there could be a benefit for both sides.
Don't Say Its Name is another in a growing number of opportunities for Indigenous stories to have an opportunity to be told by Indigenous voices. If slasher film level body counts is the expectations you may want to look somewhere else. A suspenseful thriller based on the oral histories of a people is the vehicle here.
*** Out of 4.
Don't Say Its Name | Ruben Martell | Canada | 2021 |84 Minutes.
Tags: Hit and Run, Indigenous Community, Reservation, Mining Company. Surveyor, Blackbird, Poacher, Folklore, Bear Trap.
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