Hearing about missing Indigenous women and girls in a news report might not personalize the experience. Hearing an individual story in Rustic Oracle about a missing Indigenous girl might help people understand better.
Heather (Mckenzie Kahnekaroroks Deer) is a teenager about to graduate from high school. She shares a bedroom with her 8-year-old sister Ivy (Lake Kahentawaks Delisle). Heather argues with her mother Susan (Carmen Moore) like any other teenager. Heather hangs out with her friends. Susan doesn't know much because she works long hours. There is no father in the picture.
One day, Heather doesn't come home from school. She doesn't go to school the next day. Susan goes to the police. They don't seem all that interested in Heather's case.
As cruel and lazy as the officer is, this matches the behaviour of the authorities toward missing Indigenous women and girls in real life.
Susan gets tired of waiting for the police to do their job. She sets out to find Heather. Ivy wants to go along because she misses her sister. Susan is reluctant to bring along her other daughter. Ivy knows what the suspect looks like so Susan brings her along.
Ivy has trouble sleeping, the same dream about Heather. Susan is worried about Ivy also disappearing, insisting Ivy not go too far.
Susan's zeal is remarkable even for a film such as this. She gets help along the way from social agencies in the big city of Montréal.
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Sonia Boileau brings us into this world in Rustic Oracle as writer/director, showing the frustration of really having no idea what has happened to her teenage daughter. Not lost on the audience is that the officers are clueless, lazy men while the social agencies are filled with women who are very helpful.
Some films would share with the audience the status of the missing person. Boileau knows not to do that here because the audience needs to see what Susan and Ivy see.
Brittany LeBorgne (Mohawk Girls) plays Hawi, a long-time friend of Susan. They reunite as Hawi helps Susan. We get to see a more relaxed person in the presence of Hawi. The scene in the kitchen helps us understand that Susan was once where Heather was and Ivy will be someday.
While there isn't a lot that happens, Boileau keeps the pace at a good rate. You don't lose track or get bored with what is going on. An intriguing dynamic, which ties back into Mary Simon, Canada's first Indigenous governor general. Susan, who lives in Quebec, knows English and her native language but doesn't know much French.
Boileau's initial feature, Le Dep (2015), was shot mostly in French. Simon talked about how she knew her native language and English but didn't have a chance to learn French when she was young.
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The cast also features Kevin Parent, Margo Kane, Alex Rice, and Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs.
Rustic Oracle is a solid film telling well an ever tragic story repeating thousands of times.
Moore received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actress at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards.
Rustic Oracle is available in Canada on CBC Gem and in the United States on Amazon Prime Video.
photo credit: Rustic Oracle film
video credit: YouTube/VIFF
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