A scene from ‘Seeds’

Review: ‘Seeds’ vigorously protects its roots

‘Seeds’ follows a young woman as she launches a defence against an evil corporation trying to steal her family’s legacy.

A lot of cultures are struggling to maintain their traditions, finding it difficult to pass them down to disinterested young people. Even worse, some customs and languages have been intentionally erased by colonization and genocide. However, this has been countered by a growing effort to preserve heritages, and ensure they will be valued and available to future generations. Indigenous Peoples are a prime example of a population that nearly lost its traditions, but is working to protect and impart them. In Seeds, a major corporation is threatening a family’s legacy by monetizing a safeguarded secret passed down from one generation to the next.

Ziggy (Kaniehtiio Horn) moved from her reservation to Toronto to find financial stability and she’s finally nearing her goal with a contract to leverage her influencer status for Nature’s Oath, a seed and fertilizer company. However, on the first day of their posting agreement, she’s called back to the rez to care for her vacationing aunt’s home while her cousin, Wiz (Dallas Goldtooth), goes fishing — which would be fine if she could access a steady internet connection. In addition to avoiding ex-boyfriend Bandit’s (Meegwun Fairbrother) phone calls and worrying about a series of local break-ins, she’s also warned to beware of her new business partner who may want more than just her social media support. Amusingly, her homecoming also coincides with the start of very vivid dreams featuring Graham Greene, who often appears to deliver a warning.

Ziggy is Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) and, in spite of her complaining, she truly enjoys returning to her friends and loved ones, where she can speak her language and tend to her aunt’s small farm. It brings back happy memories of a childhood spent learning her family’s traditions and being tasked with protecting their legacy: a cache of rare seeds, cultivated by her ancestors. In addition to cute photos of her cat, Ziggy talks about her heritage on her Instagram account and what it means to her, including a rather chilling account of how her predecessors dealt with their enemies. When she finds an intruder in her aunt’s house, she may have an opportunity to recreate their rituals.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this small Canadian film, from the likeable cast to the environmentally conscious but not preachy script that blends humour and badassery. Ziggy is very sweet on the outside, but she’s also a fierce, independent woman who has the respect of the men in her life — traits that Horn imbues in the picture as its writer, director and lead actor. Goldtooth and Fairbrother are excellent sidekicks to her warrior journey, believing in her abilities and being generally supportive in whatever she can and will do. On the other hand, Patrick Garrow is the iconic villain, remarkably still returning to the scene of the crime after taking a pretty a big loss on his first attempt, which speaks to the compensation he must receive from the evil corporation using genetically-modified seeds to exploit farmers.

There’s been a movement to tell stories with diversity that aren’t necessarily about diversity and this movie fits the bill. While it’s unmistakably an Indigenous narrative that celebrates the characters’ language and history, it’s also a home invasion movie in which the trespassers should’ve learned their lesson the first time and respected the resolve of the final girl.

Director: Kaniehtiio Horn
Starring: Kaniehtiio Horn, Graham Greene and Patrick Garrow

Similar Posts

  • Review: ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ is limited by age, not scares (Includes first-hand account)

    In every culture, there is a tradition of telling stories to pass down wisdom, as well as warnings about the dangers young people need to learn to avoid. Some of these evolved into local folklore, urban legends or just fictions to frighten and entertain. Passed down between generations and eventually recorded, sharing these tales is a pastime that many enjoy… and some — particularly young campers around campfires — dread. In 1981, Alvin Schwartz published a compilation of these chilling, short narratives, which became a secret pleasure for many adolescent readers. Now, Guillermo Del Toro has produced a big-screen adaptation with its own spectral storyteller, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

  • Review: ‘Spider-Man — Homecoming’ finally gets it right (Includes first-hand account)

    In an age of remakes and reboots, it’s becoming frequently common to see one character played by multiple actors in the span of a couple decades. This is especially true in the superhero universe where the stories are seemingly infinite, but the performers’ commitment comparatively brief. Even a multi-picture deal typically runs down in 10 years or less, leading studios to start anew after each cycle. The latest franchise to be rebooted with a fresh face is one of Marvel‘s youngest heroes in tights: Spider-Man. In the first standalone film of the reboot, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker is still learning to flex his superhuman muscles.

  • Review: ‘Aladdin’ is a magical ride through a familiar world (Includes first-hand account)

    There are several arguments to be made for and against Disney reaching into their vaults to make live-action versions of their animated classics. On the one hand, it feels as if there’s a lack of new ideas and room for creativity as, arguably, the largest studio in the world rehashes their already bankable narratives. On the other hand, re-envisioning the original stories gives them the opportunity to address any criticisms that may have been leveraged at the movie’s release or over the years. The new live-action version of Aladdin takes a little from column A and a little from column B.

  • Review: ‘The Hate U Give’ is a vital picture in the cultural zeitgeist (Includes first-hand account)

    Stories about inner city life are often about gangs or rising above one’s class to be better; but it’s not often a narrative finds a way to combine these aspects and portray a more realistic depiction of people from these neighbourhoods where those things are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Everyone is a product of their environment, but that doesn’t mean they have to accept, abide by or sink down to its lowest expectations. The Hate U Give creates the acronym “THUG” and is about “thug life,” but not the derogatory definition that’s pervaded and is most often associated with these tales.