Fancy Dance

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Fancy Dance

R

2024

1h 32m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

125 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Since her sister's disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of Jax losing custody to Roki's grandfather, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki's mother in time for the powwow. 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 while at the mercy of a failed justice system.

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Critics Consensus

An urgent drama grounded in its observant depiction of reservation life, Fancy Dance establishes director/co-writer Erica Tremblay as a rising filmmaking talent.

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Roxana Hadadi

New York Magazine/Vulture

09/17/2024

Fancy Dance becomes part coming-of-age story, part road movie, and part revenge thriller with Tremblay effectively guiding Gladstone and Deroy-Olson through the tropes of each subgenre.

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Ty Burr

Ty Burr's Watch List (Substack)

07/25/2024

3/4

Fancy Dance toggles between a thriller, a murder mystery, a road movie, and a social drama, and if the shifts aren't always smooth, the fine performances and an undercurrent of fury toward the injustices faced by Indigenous women hold it together.

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Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (LAist)

07/13/2024

It's maybe a little too subtle, but the performances and sense of place are so strong.

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John Stark

Mac the Movie Guy

May 9

90/100

I liked Gladstone more here than in Killers Of The Flower Moon, because she owns this from start to finish.A commanding performance that shows off her heart and true range. I loved this.

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Marta Medina Pérez

mundoCine

08/15/2025

3.5/5

[Fancy Dance] is a road movie that blends drama and thriller, but finds its emotional strength and works far better when it leans into the drama territory. (...) A celebration of contemporary Native American culture. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Maxance Vincent

Film Speak

07/14/2025

B+

Fancy Dance never overstays its welcome and ends the way it should — on the film’s terms, after everything Tremblay and Gladstone wanted to cover has been completed.

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Larry W

07/18/2024

Very powerful story. Lily Gladstone is an amazing actress.

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Luke N

@lukebnicholls Aug 2

A heartwarming and heartbreaking look at a Native American group.

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Sharang L

@Scribe187 Jun 1

With a bravura performance from Gladstone, this is a tender, desperate movie that will have you reaching for the tissues. It deserves a wider audience.

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Grant H.

@dj530 May 30

Injustices to Native Americans are at the core of this country, and Fancy Dance is no different in Lily Gladstone’s search for her sister. As systems fail on produce results; it leads us to wonder what measures we take into our own hands to protect those who mean so much to us.

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Sal D.

@JustTheLaw Jan 19

I found the story of Roki more compelling than the rest of the characters but that may because the missing character, Tawi, is just dialogue without really any gravity even when conveyed by Lily Gladstone’s character, Tawi’s sister. I think the issue is the performances are staid and a bit underwhelming, considering the gravity of the plot. Also? Gladstone’s character does not particularly come across as the ideal protagonist- not exceptionally likable. Worth a watch but the potential of this film is not realized.

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Vince Q.

@Vincedeq Oct 31

Authentic, yet slightly clumsy portrayal of a story of loss and hope on a Plains Reservation in Oklahoma. Gladstone delivers a great performance, but the cast around her is too green to hold the scene. This is the challenge of the independent film voice, and the message is wrapped in a good, story solid — it just needed another 10 million dollars in production value for polish.

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Erica Tremblay

Director

Lily Gladstone

Jax

Isabel Deroy-Olson

Roki

Ryan Begay

JJ

Shea Whigham

Frank

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Fancy Dance: Trailer

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Synopsis

Since her sister's disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of Jax losing custody to Roki's grandfather, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki's mother in time for the powwow. 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 while at the mercy of a failed justice system.

Director: Erica Tremblay
Producer: Deidre Backs, Erica Tremblay, Heather Rae, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Tommy Oliver
Screenwriter: Erica Tremblay, Miciana Alise
Distributor: Apple Original Films
Production Co: Creative Producing Lab, Significant Productions, Directors' Lab, AUM Group, Indigenous Intensive, Confluential Films, Apple TV+, The Sundance Screenwriters' Lab
Rating: R (Some Drug Content|Sexual Material|Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 28, 2024
Runtime: 1h 32m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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