Explores the sensitive, and tense, relationship between life on an First Nations reservation and life in the outside world. When Native Canadian Silas Crow is forced to write a personal essay in order to get a much-desired job, he tells the story of the rape and murder of an Indian girl by a drunken thug. When the killer received a lenient two-year sentence for manslaughter, the First Nations community felt shock and anger -- and tried desperately to deal with the after-effects of this lack of justice.
[Dance Me Outside] packs a lot of punch into an offbeat drama that at first appears to be headed nowhere. Ultimately, though, you feel involved in lives that end up touching home.
– Peter Stack,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Bolstered by a winning, youthful cast, the film is a droll ensemble piece that makes its serious points skillfully and effortlessly.
– Leonard Klady,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
fresh:
Dance Me Outside nevertheless stays compelling, thanks to its cast of appealing unknowns. You haven't seen anyone quite like them before -- and that's meant as high praise.
– Michael Sauter,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 May 2013
fresh:
Filled with characters who are more frustrated than ennobled, Dance Me Outside deftly turns a number of narrative conventions upside down.