WAR PONY – Movie Review

Posted by Jennifer Merin on Jul 16, 2023 | 0 comments

War Pony is an exquisite narrative feature from first time directors Gina Gammell and Riley Keough (yes, she’s Elvis Presley’s granddaughter). Set on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the film centers on two young Oglala Lakota men — Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting), who is in his early twenties and is struggling to provide for his two babies, each from a different mother, and Matho (LaDainian Crazy Thunder), a charismatic twelve-year-old who has been expelled from school, has no secure place to life and whose meth addicted dad abuses him.

Both Bill and Matho are using all of their innate smarts to find opportunities to overcome the overwhelming hardships they face — poverty, abandonment, cultural disenfranchisement. And, despite all their persistence, they are getting nowhere fast. The characters and their stories are completely captivating.

And the fact that Gammell and Keough developed the project with local Lakota storytellers and cast local non-professionals in leading and smaller roles gives the film a compelling and undeniable authenticity.

For a truly rewarding immersive cinema experience, see Gina Gammell and Riley Keough’s amazing first feature, War Pony, as a double bill with Lakota Nation Vs United States, the documentary featured as AWFJ’s Movie of the Week for July 14.

The two films — one a non-fiction feature, the other a feels very real fiction feature — augment each other’s impact like a pair of gloves that give the wearer double punch power. The documentary is a reservoir of shocking facts, the narrative is a tsunami of emotions. These films are perfect examples of movies that matter because they address important social and political issues through beautifully crafted entertaining movies that actually deliver the stories and facts that can actually change hearts and minds.

FILM DETAILS:

Title: War Pony

Directors: Gina Gammell and Riley Keough

Release Date: July 21, 2023

Running Time: 115 minutes

Language: English

Screenwriters: Franklin Sioux Bob. Bill Reddy, Gina Gammell and Riley Keough

Distribution Company: Momentum Pictures