Night Raiders utilizes many Indigenous influences to tell its sci-fi thriller.

The film marks the directorial debut of Saskatchewan-born Cree/Metis writer and director Danis Goulet (Wakening, Barefoot). The cast includes Elle-Maija Tailfeathers (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, Blood Quantum), Brooklyn Letexier-Hart (Burden of Truth), Alex Tarrant (Seachange, When We Go to War), Shaun Sipos (Krypton, Dark Matter), and Amanda Plummer (Hunger Games, Pulp Fiction).

Here is the synopsis:

The year is 2043. A military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are property of the State. A desperate Cree woman joins an underground band of vigilantes to infiltrate a State children’s academy and get her daughter back. Night Raiders is a female-driven dystopian drama about resilience, courage, and love.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Ambulance Trailer Has Bank Robbers With Dying Cop As Hostage

Goulet called Night Raiders as part of a newly-minted genre of Indigenous sci-fi.

“The wave of Indigenous sci-fi/horror wave is here. People in our community have wanted access for so many years for the right to tell our stories. There were laws in Canada that outlawed our cultural expression so we’re entering a renaissance and the wave of the genre is a part of that. It’s a really exciting time,” stated Goulet.

The film has plenty of influences from Indigenous connections to the land, the value of important natural resources, and the protests of Standing Rock in North Dakota.

“The people standing up at Standing Rock talked about the Black Snake prophesy a snake that would cross the land and devour everything in its path, about it being the pipeline. It sent shivers up my spine to think about it that way. But also, it was such a beautiful metaphor, so poetic, so rich and so wise. I wanted to bring an element of that into Night Raiders, treating it with the respect and authenticity that it deserves and not letting it fall into the ‘mystical Indian’ trope.”

Night Raiders is in select theaters, On Demand and digital on November 12.

Watch the official trailer below.

Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films