Gina Gammell and Riley Keough’s debut follows the interlocking stories of two Lakota boys growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting), at twenty-three, just wants to make something of himself and is determined to hustle his way to a better life through odd jobs and get-rich-quick schemes. Twelve-year-old Matho (LaDainian Crazy Thunder) is desperate for approval from his young father. A series of impulsive decisions turns Matho’s life upside down, and he finds himself unequipped to deal with the harsh realities of the adult world. ‘War Pony’ is a tender portrait of two boys’ troubled passage into adulthood and a deserving winner of the top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.
Quotes:
★★★★ “….there is in their lives something genuinely uplifting and heroic.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
★★★★ “This Caméra d’Or winner (for best debut feature at Cannes) is a keenly observed, subtle, and challenging drama about a corner of society never included in the American dream, one that reveals both the spirit and longing found there..” – Hilary White, Irish Independent.
