‘War Pony’: The Accidental Movie that Became One of the Best Films of the Year

When Riley Keough and Gina Gammell started filming on the Blue Ridge Reservation in South Dakota way back in 2015, they weren’t thinking so much about making a film, but rather they were just recording life on the reservation with friends they had made when Keough was shooting American Honey.  What grew out of those visits and filming sessions was the idea for a movie taken from the stories of future screenwriters Franklin Sioux Bob and Bill Reddy. 

Longtime friends and collaborators Keough and Gammell first met Franklin and Bill at a hotel where American Honey was casting locals for background parts. The foursome of twentysomethings got on quickly, and soon hours passed by in that way that they do when you are endlessly enjoying the company of others. From that initial meet-up, a true friendship sprang forth, and Keough and Gammell found themselves consistently visiting the reservation just to hang out. But as Franklin and Bill shared their lives with Keough and Gammell, the two filmmakers began to get an idea for a movie based around the tales that were told to them.

What began as a loose idea to record life on the reservation in an almost home movie fashion, eventually formalized into a screenplay that took the stories of the two men and centered them around a young man and a little boy and their experiences growing up on the reservation. As the screenplay began to take shape, Keough and Gammell began to wonder if it was appropriate for the two of them (both white women) to be in charge of telling their stories. They thought about turning the film over to Franklin and Bill, but not only had neither of them ever directed a film or had any experience on set, but they didn’t want to direct the movie anyway. The notion of practicality also came into play when Keough and Gammell realized that if the film were to be made at all, it would likely only happen if the two of them did it. And so, they set their mission as one of service to the stories of these two men, always placing themselves second to fulfilling that purpose.

As Keough and Gammell shared with me when I interviewed them earlier this year at the Virginia Film Festival, this was “everyone’s first movie.” Even though Keough and Gammell had experience in the business, neither had ever directed a film before. As well, almost none of their cast had acted before. Keough and Gammell were shooting on location, inside the homes of the residents of the reservation, and with a cast made up of unknowns and amateurs. To put it mildly, War Pony was not a conventional shoot, and sometimes the job of the directors was to run and get an actor a burger from McDonald’s, and on other occasions to simply stop filming because key members of their cast were just over the long shooting hours and wanted to stop.

Despite these challenges, what Keough and Gammell have created is a truly remarkable “you are there” film that greatly illuminates life on the Blue Ridge Reservation. While it’s not hard to imagine that some of the film would focus on many of the issues that take place on a reservation, from lack of resources to substance abuse, War Pony is not a depressing film. Sure, seeing a whole group of indigenous people living in poor conditions, getting their food from convenience stores, and just generally scraping by does come with a sense of pain knowing that those who come from the proud tradition of the Oglala Lakota tribe are now starting their lives with challenges and limitations that make their lives more difficult straight from the jump.

But that’s not all that War Pony has to show us. The struggles in their lives are presented in a matter-of-fact fashion that allows you to also take pleasure in the characters’ love of music (both traditional and modern–there’s a lot of hip-hop in the film), their families, and their friendships. 

By splitting the story between two main protagonists (Jojo Bapteise Whiting as Bill, the young man, and LaDainian Crazy Thunder as Matho, the boy), War Pony plays as a sort of dual coming of age story. Bill is industrious, but wayward. He has a child with his ex-girlfriend, a dog that he hopes to breed to make money off the puppies, and seems to luck into a job with a local turkey farmer who hires Bill for odd jobs and to work in his factory. Matho is just on the edge of his teenage years, has a difficult home life (that soon becomes more so), and whose childhood joy is on the cusp to turning into the soberness of adulthood. 

In recent years, the stories of indigenous Americans have become more popular to present on film and television. In just the last couple of years, we’ve seen independent films like Catch the Fair One, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, and Martin Scorsese’s sweeping studio film Killers of the Flower Moon turn their attention to both the modern and historical conditions of the first peoples’ of America. Likewise, on TV, the Hulu series Reservation Dogs received excellent reviews over its three seasons, and even Prey (Hulu’s Predator sequel) dealt thoughtfully with the lives of those who preceded the “founding” of this country.

What makes War Pony stand out from those terrific entries is the simplicity (in the best way) and the immediacy of the filmmaking. Music is used sparingly, but when the score kicks in, it is often thrilling. There is a single buffalo that is sighted on multiple occasions as a symbol of a time when the Lakota had full agency over the land and their lives, but it is never heavy-handed. Even the only major white characters in the film, who are true opportunists when it comes to relating to the reservation population, are not presented in a typical fashion. While they are definitely duplicitous, and in the case of the man, truly vile, they are shown with an eccentric touch that doesn’t take away from their misdeeds, but also doesn’t hit you with a hammer. The goal of War Pony isn’t to make you feel sorry for the disadvantaged tribal members of the Blue Ridge Reservation, it’s to make you understand their lives better as if you were walking alongside them.

War Pony is at times very funny too. The comedy largely sprouts from the very human interactions between those who live on the reservation, but there is also a revenge scene involving the turkeys on the farm (set to the Mexican/Native American band Redbone’s disco chestnut “Come and Get Your Love”) that is both surreal and hysterical. It’s also a deceptively moving film that sneaks up on you. One of my favorite scenes of the year involves the making of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a hungry young boy. The circumstances that lead up to the making of the sandwich are heartfelt, but the maker of that sandwich’s behavior while spreading the PB&J over the bread adds layers of understanding to why he would behave in such a fashion with a boy he doesn’t really know.

What Keough and Gammell have come up with is a little miracle of a movie. One that does not turn away from the tragic history that has led to an entire population coming into the world on one of its lowest rungs, but also doesn’t pity them, or try to turn the stories of these two young people into an inspirational tale. War Pony is smart, avant-garde, entertaining, and full of integrity. Whatever understandable concerns Keough and Gammell may have felt before taking on the stories of those so unlike them, maybe they needn’t have worried so much. They, along with their collaborators Franklin and Bill, have made one of the best films of the year.

Special thanks to the Virginia Film Festival organizers who set up the interview with Riley and Gina, which greatly contributed to this review.