An exploration of Indigenous folklore and myth offers rich and often unknown, or lesser-known potential for horror stories. Don’t Say Its Name (2021) interweaves aspects of folkloric belief with real-time concerns and anxieties afflicting a small First Nations community; in doing so, it has many merits, though in time resorts to very broad strokes and more recognisable tropes which dispense with the film’s earlier subtleties.
On a remote Canadian First Nation reservation, a young woman is knocked down and killed one night in a hit and run incident. This death rocks the small, close-knit community; slowly, it’s revealed that it’s especially tragic as the victim, a girl named Kharis (Sheena Kane), had only recently returned to that community after enduring a lot of hardship whilst living away. Her identification, and the reactions of her family and friends, are unusually tender, going a long way towards establishing a real sense of togetherness amongst these people, making for a commendable start to the narrative.
The loss of Kharis is a shock, but it’s not the only issue facing this community. Their fate is being threatened in other ways. Surveyors are in the area on behalf of a mining company known as WEC; they want to unlock the rich potential of the area, but most of the local residents are shocked by what this would mean for their land and their way of life. Two surveyors taking a look at a proposed site come under attack by something unidentified, unseen; these mysterious attacks continue, usually targeting outsiders. The newly-deputised ranger Stacey (Sera-Lys McArthur) is agreed to be the best person to try to track whatever is causing these attacks, whilst the Sheriff’s Department, led by Betty (Madison Walsh) try to figure out the links, as the killer now seems to be targeting locals, too. Why them?
The beautiful, snowy landscapes are shot to good advantage here and Don’t Say Its Name is certainly atmospheric, creating a community which is vulnerable by nature of being so remote. There are some interesting explorations of the divide between First Nation and Caucasian residents, though the script tends towards simplicity in this respect; the crude racism and sexism, for example, of one of the surveyors edges things towards caricature, which detracts from some of the finer points which the film seeks to make. A man smilingly claiming to be bringing hard cash to the ‘squaws’ seems too obvious to be believed, at least in terms of characterisation. Also, as the film moves towards its final act, much of the mystery surrounding the invisible attacks dissipates, blurring the lines between natural and supernatural in some ways which affects the nature of the threat itself, reducing it, or at least radically changing it. There are a few other tics which are rather distracting: the representation of the WEC as quite simplistic bad guys denies the possibility of an interesting discourse, whereas the character of town elder Carson – the only character really given a more nuanced perspective on the events unfolding in his community – has that voice stripped away regardless. Some of the other choices, such as the electric guitar incidental music, and the ‘sounds of war’ shortcut to represent a character’s military PTSD to us, feel rather clumsy and less in keeping with the terrific beauty and power of the setting itself.
The film segues into some good action sequences before its finale, and there are some hints at the cause for all of this which add a new layer to the storytelling, but all told, subtlety is not the name of the game in Don’t Say Its Name. Perhaps this was never the aim; if director and co-writer Rueben Martell wanted only to tell an entertaining, suitably-paced horror yarn with a few novel plot developments, then Don’t Say Its Name fits the bill very well. It does offer something which overlaps to a degree with existing folklore, but adds its own elements and gives it context by making links to very real anxieties over the environment, land rights and autonomy.
Don’t Say Its Name will feature at the 25th Fantasia Film Festival.