‘Night Raiders’ is an evocative genre film that draws on the trauma of the residential school system to tell its story of a military-occupied future.
Future-based science fiction thrillers have often been used to deliver commentary on contemporary and historical issues. Fiction provides an opportunity to explore difficult subjects at a safe distance that can be more easily consumed by a mainstream audience. It also allows filmmakers to concoct an engaging narrative that encourages conversation and stimulates further consideration of topics that viewers may normally dismiss in the news or elsewhere. In Night Raiders, a mother and daughter are at the centre of a story of separation and government control in a dystopian society.
In a not-so-distant future, people live in the rubble of war-torn cities that are regularly patrolled by drones and hardened soldiers. There are no children in these dilapidated municipalities as they are all removed by the government and taken to education centres. Consequently, Niska (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) and her daughter, Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart), live off the grid in nearby forests, avoiding seeker drones and making a home wherever they can for as long as they can. However, an accident requires they return to civilization or risk the ultimate separation. Their presence is inevitably detected and their worst fears becomes a reality. But Niska is determined to be reunited with her daughter and enlists the help of other Cree outliers who can aid in her mission.
It’s not especially difficult to draw parallels between the narrative’s policies and recent headlines about undocumented parents being separated from their children in the United States. However, as the protagonist and her cohorts are Indigenous, it also points to policies that required Indigenous children be removed from their homes and placed at residential schools where they were taught to forget their heritage. As the story progresses, audiences are reminded of other familiar and increasingly disturbing elements from history, giving further weight to the narrative that aims to go beyond the basic forms of entertainment.
The narrative begins as one story, but must then branch into two set in very different worlds once they’re divided. Amongst the masses, Niska rejoins society, working at the local market and casually deflecting the advances of a man who keeps trying to impress her. Meanwhile, Waseese is in a regimented facility where she is taught military skills during the day and sleeps in a bed that almost appears to be in a cage at night. When the story picks up a short time after their separation, it’s heartening to see Niska has endured with her inner strength intact and not been overwhelmed by grief so that someone needs to rescue her before she can save her daughter. She’s clearly made decisions based on her emotions, but she’s not ruled by them.
The ending is hinted at throughout the film, but it’s the only part of the story that feels out of place in spite of its ultimate message of hope. Otherwise, the movie is an intense drama about family and the consequences of authoritarian government — real and imaginary.
Night Raiders screened as part of the Gala Presentations programme at the Toronto International Film Festival and writer/director Danis Goulet received the TIFF Emerging Talent Award for her debut feature.
Read other reviews from the festival.
Director: Danis Goulet
Starring: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart and Alex Tarrant
