Night Raiders

"They will come for us, like they always do. We try to warn the others, because we know how far these people will go, and that they will come for them too."

In the not-so-distant future Niska navigates forest and city as she flees with her daughter, Waseese, from the soldiers and drones of a militarized government. When the injured Waseese is taken by soldiers and put in a reeducation camp, Niska seeks the counsel of a friend, a lover, and a band of Cree rebels who compete for her trust. Many among the Cree believe that Niska is the visionary guide, Ogunuheneechigew, who has come to help them return to a promised land and existence. Niska just wants to see Waseese again.

Myth, assimilation, the natural world, the infamous residential schools of North America, modern technology, and even Canada's long-standing fears of their southern neighbor are all deftly woven into an enthralling story by Danis Goulet, who is Cree, in her debut feature. Don't see Night Raiders for mind-blowing dialogue that would make Noam Chomsky faint out of sheer admiration, for the acting prowess of a Natalie Portman or Daniel Day Lewis, or for special effects that would make George Lucas look like a basket weaver. Instead see it for the impressive and comforting independent spirit, creativity, and heart of a gifted storyteller.

This is not a complete waste of time, howevver, there are better ways to use this time(wash dishes, fold clothes, look at moonlight), all of which may be less boring.

The initial story is interesting, especially for those who watched Children of Men, which is absolutely fantastic. That movie had some action, some thriller, story drama, compelling ending, great acting and you cared about the characters. This one has interesting concept, decent acting and.......nothing else. It appears the director is the writer who had an idea but needed someone else flesh out the story. It is extremely boring, you never really care what happens to anyone, and a tacked-on afterthought as an ending.

It did do one thing...made me go rewatch Children of Men.

This not the worst movie I've seen. So anyone throwing a 1 or a 2 at it is likely taking themselves a little too seriously. Likewise, it is not great or maybe even good so anyone throwing a 6 or more is invested in the movie's success or else just tolerates mediocre much better than I do.

This is not a lot of action. Not a lot of thriller. And the only real sci-fi does not make a lot of sense. You will likely have a hard time actually caring about the characters and an even harder time remaining interested in the outcome. And then when it happens you'll wish it hadn't because you will realize your investment in the payoff didn't earn much.

Other than that though, excellent movie. Watch it yourself if you don't believe me.

Night Raiders starts promising with an intriguing plot but towards the second part of the movie the quality is just tumbling down. It looks like towards the end the writers had a lack of imagination, or were just too lazy to give it a better outcome. So overal I was entertained for a bit more than half of the movie, after that I got bored. The acting is average, some were better than others. Nothing award winning that's for sure. It's too bad because Night Raiders definitely could have been better, the ingredients were there but the execution failed.

Yes, I know this film is a bit lo-fi, yet the acting leads are superb, the story a bit too believable--especially in terms of recently uncovered nightmares of Indian schools, and the malicious tech right on target. Was there a bit too much left from he editing room intact: YES. But some of these actors probably worked their whole lives to get into a wide-distribution release. I appreciated the film on many levels and would hope other viewers would as well.