In 2013, Mi’kmaq filmmaker Jeff Barnaby presented Rhymes for Young Ghouls at TIFF. It was a wild revenge tale that took the horrors of residential school abuse that plagued generations of Indigenous young people and set it within a genre film structure, allowing the tropes of traditional horror films to echo with the realities of life on the reservation. His film was not the first to make this link overtly via this filmmaking style, but the uniqueness of his presentation was so profound, the film so accomplished, it forever changed the lens by which I understood these stories, using elements of fiction to more deeply touch upon chilling truths. Barnaby lost his battle with cancer back in 2022, and I miss his voice deeply. But, while watching Seeds, Kaniehtiio Horn’s delightful directorial debut, I saw the seeds of what he brought to the big screen, a linking of his legacy to a bright future for Canadian filmmaking in general, and contemporary Indigenous storytelling in particular.
On its surface, Seeds is a pulpy romp, mixing broad comedy, chilling moments of dread, and full-on revenge horror to make for an entertaining grindhouse mashup. Yet beyond the buckets of blood and eco-friendly messaging, there is much that’s more profound element to spy the closer one looks. From the casual mixing of Native and colonial languages shifting mid-phrase, to the bemused recognition of the charms and structural challenges of reservation life, there’s a casual sardonicism that’s infectious. Add in the notion of generational connections that are often as traumatic as they are uplifting, as well as the simple yet courageous refusal to accept the invisible lines of isolation that the social and cultural compromise that reservation system fostered, one can easily find the true darkness explored in subtle ways that goes well beyond even the most horrific of events we see play out on screen.
What Is ‘Seeds’ About?
The film begins with Ziggy (played by Horn herself), a Kanien’kehaka woman living in the big city, tearing up social media as a part-time influencer, full-time food delivery person. In her clips she injects dark tales from her Mohawk culture with wide-eyed glee, telling tales of dismembered limbs that still walk or the cannibalistic practice of munching the hearts of an enemy. Upending and deconstructing the very notion of so-called “savagery,” Ziggy spouts these tales as a mix of tabloid-like tidbits and a dash of TV true-crime zeal while at the same time speaking to a wider community embracing the salacious fun of her stories.
Ziggy falls asleep on her couch to old episodes of Exhibit A: Forensic Files, a schmaltzy but popular Canadian show from a decade or so back that was hosted by the legendary actor Graham Greene. An older vision of Greene, perhaps best known to international audiences for his role in the Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves, appears to Ziggy in her sleep talking directly to her from the television, with “Uncle G” admonishing and encouraging her to find a different direction with her life, and to be wary of opportunities that look too good to be true. Ziggy is soon connected to a sponsor for her posts and is promised riches to promote Nature’s Oath as a benefit to her audience. Decked out in logo-emblazoned outfits, she helps spread the word about this agrochemical conglomerate to her subscribers, illustrating how the planting of a small seed can result in a sometimes astonishing growth in future. This grand metaphor cuts both ways, of course, as a seed planted can bloom into a healthy plant or metastasize into something quite destructive. It’s these twin meanings, between light and shade, or between the horrors of the past and the hope for a better future, that inject some of the more salient ideas that elevate Horn’s story from simply being a broad entertainment.
‘Seeds’ Becomes an Unorthodox Revenge Thriller
When Ziggy is called upon by her goofy-but-charismatic cousin (Dallas Goldtooth) to house-sit for her relative who is off in New Zealand picking up hot Māori men and basking in the sun, she finds herself once again back in both the comfort and the claustrophobia of where she grew up. With cat in tow and struggling to find a cellular signal, the everyday logistical challenges soon become matters of life and death, as a mysterious stranger is on the hunt for her family’s legacy to be used for nefarious purposes.
As the light comic story gets darker and darker, Horn’s film manages to keep the tonal sweeps from slipping out of control. This is helped by a fine ensemble — including Meegwun Fairbrother, Dylan Cook, and even Greene himself — that manages to ground things even as events go completely awry. On the one hand, everything plays out in black and white moral poles, with clear enemies in combat with our heroine. Yet throughout there are elements that germinate in more subtle ways, never succumbing to didacticism but always moving the storyline forward.
The end result is a highly entertaining, highly provocative film that brings the best of a revenge thriller with a boost of a bit of deeper cultural expression. Like any hybrid crop, this kind of mixing can at its best produce something better than the sum of its parts, while risking becoming little more than an incoherent mess. In Horn’s capable hands, she ably follows the lead of my much missed friend Jeff Barnaby, sowing Seeds with love and giving audiences a boost of bombastic, brutal fun along the way.
Seeds had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
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