On Sacred Ground, 2023.
Directed by Josh Tickell, Joshua Tickell, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell.
Starring William Mapother, Amy Smart, David Arquette, Frances Fisher, Kerry Knuppe, Irene Bedard, Mariel Hemingway, David Midthunder, Marshall Dancing Elk Lucas, Layla Cushman, Pete Lawson Jones, Zach Meiser, Kevin McClatchy, KateLynn E. Newberry, and Che Jim.
SYNOPSIS:
A journalist and oil company executive find themselves on opposite sides of the fight during the construction of the contentious Dakota Access Pipeline that runs through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
Given that the directorial family of Josh Tickell, Joshua Tickell, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell have been making environmental activism documentaries for quite some time now (including ones about other oil controversies), there is every reason to assume that, despite the several ways On Sacred Ground buries itself as a woefully misguided, they had well-meaning intentions.
Opening up with a crash course of text graphics detailing the events leading up to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and why that’s horrible news for North Dakota’s Lakota tribe and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, specifically how it will contaminate their primary water source, On Sacred Ground already feels as if the filmmakers have stepped too far out of their element and should have made another documentary.
With that said, I also understand the likely reasoning behind opting for a narrative feature with notable names such as David Arquette and Amy Smart; you get more eyes on an important story. Still, this is an embarrassing attempt at traditional storytelling that, at times, morphs the backgrounds of interior locations, such as a restaurant where two characters are discussing the legalities and morality of building the pipeline, into newspaper headlines listing off facts. Everywhere the film turns are traces that the filmmakers really wanted to make a documentary.
That also wouldn’t necessarily be an issue with On Sacred Ground made good on delicately presenting this important story of the indignities that the Native Americans are facing, America’s oil greed, and whatever it’s trying to say about mainstream media (the ending is laughable, trying to emulate the thrilling climaxes of some great journalistic dramas, utterly failing).
The filmmakers have made it impossible to do so, choosing to position the narrative as a corny white savior movie centered on Daniel McKinney (William Mapother), a Republican former war veteran suffering PTSD, currently with his first child on the way, now a photographer and strapped for cash, hired by a Houston newspaper willing to pay decent cash under the impression that he will twist the news into fake news. What ensues is the outdated and cringe story of a white man realizing that, yes, while creating jobs is nice, minorities are also human beings and facing severe injustices.
Even if one, for whatever reason, was fine with that perspective, the script from the Tickells and star William Mapother is shockingly phony, manipulatively using Afghanistan trauma to the point nothing about it feels authentic. For a good half of its running time, the story is more concerned with Daniel’s trauma and the growing rift between his wife that it’s hard to believe this is supposed to be a movie about the Dakota Access Pipeline.
To the credit of the filmmakers, when Native Americans do show up (it doesn’t happen often), there is appropriate casting (the bar is that low when trying to complement this movie), and they occasionally care about their customs and the abuse they face at the hands of aggressive policemen. However, none are given any depth and only exist (especially Kerry Knuppe’s Mika) to open Daniel’s eyes as he hides whatever trashy MAGA outlet he is freelancing for.
Admittedly, there are one or two nuanced moments between Daniel and the Native Americans, and William Mapother is trying to elicit a sense of inner conflict, suggesting that the story would have been stronger by homing in on and strengthening those dynamics and characters.
If the thinking behind the production of On Sacred Ground was to change the hearts of like-minded Republicans, well, bad news for them; both sides are going to reach across the aisle to ridicule this one.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
