Night Raiders review – search for Native American children turns dystopian sci-fi

Danis Goulet’s cautionary tale of an Indigenous mother’s rescue mission with overtones of the residential school scandal is thinly characterised

Centring on a dystopian North America where Indigenous children are abducted and placed in state-run institutions to be brainwashed – a detail that recalls the shameful history of Canadian residential schools – this is a cautionary tale from Cree-Métis director Danis Goulet that has the commendable aim of reclaiming sci-fi tropes that recklessly appropriate the trauma of minority groups. But despite these lofty intentions and a wealth of Native American talent, the film follows a highly predictable path where the plight of Indigenous communities never amounts to anything more than simplified metaphors.

Night Raiders follows the arduous journey of Niska (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers), a Cree woman regretting her decision to give up her injured daughter Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart) to the authoritarian state. The film zigzags between lush forests and sterile cityscapes (where grey skies are darkened by swaths of surveilling drones). A chance encounter with a group of Indigenous vigilantes sweeps Niska into a rescue mission for children – her daughter among them – who are locked inside the ominous academy, where they are trained to be robotic instruments of state power.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3E5IDWv