Night Raiders: First-Time Director Creates a Dystopian Future as Metaphor for a Horrific Past

By Thom Ernst

Rating: A-minus

Writer-director Danis Goulet sets her story Night Raiders in the future to better tell a story of the past. Goulet repositions one of the darkest blemishes in Canadian history—the forced imposed schooling of Indigenous children into residential schools—as a science-fiction thriller. 

Goulet is of Cree-Metis descent. Even so, dramatizing an ugly historical fact as fiction is a risky venture. But storytelling is a meaningful way of unearthing deeper truths. 

Brooklyn Letexier-Hart and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers try to stay ahead of the drones in Night Raiders.

Night Raiders is a futuristic folk tale with roots in the horrors of residential schools, deadly viruses, and imposed segregation. Niska (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) is a Cree mother who attempts to protect her daughter, Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart), from the clutches of a state-imposed education camp. But when Waseese is seriously injured, Niska sees no choice but to surrender her to the care of the school. 

Niska sees her act as a betrayal but is put somewhat at ease by the encouragement of her friend Roberta (Amanda Plummer), a non-Indigenous person who has witnessed her own son's growth in the program. 

But as society falls into further collapse—first with increased military surveillance and then a deadly virus outbreak—Niska rescinds on her decision and sets out to rescue Waseese from the institute.

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

Niska happens upon an underground movement—a community of various Indigenous cultures, including First Nations, Cree, Metis, Inuit, and Maori—who live hidden in the woods in defiance of State law, similar to the keepers of books at the end of Fahrenheit 451 and the loners at the end of The Lobster. The movement embraces Niska as their long-awaited prophet. 

But Waseese's survival skills make her a valued and ruthless student at the State Academy. Waseese learns to play the game, and playing the game well comes with benefits. The promise of a better life, once she assimilates, might be too much for Waseese to turn down, 

Night Raiders is Goulet's feature film debut, the kind that challenges preconceived notions about how a first feature can look. Goulet comes at her story with the strength and confidence of a seasoned filmmaker; her skills are honed from years of making award-winning shorts and presenting them on the festival circuit.   

In lesser hands, the simile between yesterday and tomorrow might be too clever to have any impact. But Goulet manages a story that is more prophecy than allegory. 

In drawing similes between the then and the now, Goulet juxtaposes history with prophecy. Using conventional science-fiction tropes—the collapse of society, a military state, dystopia, and unidentified flying orbs—she creates a sound case for entertainment to share the screen with stories that have meaning and social impact. 

Night Raiders is directed by Danis Goulet and stars Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, and Amanda Plummer.  Night Raiders opens in selected theatres on Friday, October 8.