Sugarcane (2024)

-Written by Kyle Bain.

For years abuse went undocumented at an Indian residential school. There students were abused physically, mentally, and sexually–leading to lifetimes of trauma and irreconcilable pain. With only a few members of the abusive party still alive, Sugarcane looks to shed light on these heinous acts. This is an investigation into all that went wrong years ago, as many of the victims simply try to come to terms with their reality. 

I get it; I understand why this film needs to be made–but I’m not sure that it ultimately does the subject, or the people in question, any justice. Sugarcane is sort of a mess–failing to find its footing, failing to be gripping, failing to find a singular direction and remain there, steadfast. With this it became challenging to remain focused, and at times, even care about what was being said. 

I know that sounds harsh—I know that sounds like I’m somehow demented by not caring about the subject of Sugarcane, but it’s simply a result of the storytelling inability of this team. The film needed to be more pointed, more direct in the process of presenting this to the world. As a result of this oversight, the film struggles greatly. 

Additionally, viewers are given nearly every bit of necessary information in the first five-minutes of the film. Directors Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat don’t leave much to the imagination, they don’t leave much for viewers to anticipate going forward. They effectively showed their collective hand at the start of Sugarcane. That’s a bold move, one that certainly doesn’t pay off. 

There’s nothing particularly intriguing about Sugarcane, nothing that separates it from other documentaries. It’s technically average, effective but, nothing to write home about. Its entire story is spoon fed to viewers in the opening minutes. There’s little mystery left (which allowing Sugarcane to play out like a true mystery could have worked wonders for it), and it’s challenging for viewers to remain focused throughout. I don’t want anyone to think that I don’t understand the importance of Sugarcane, because I most certainly do—but being of importance doesn’t automatically make it a good film. It leaves a lot to be desired—and I ultimately imagine that viewers would be better off conducting their own research over watching this film. 

Directed by Emily Kassie & Julian Brave NoiseCat. 

4/10 = WORTH WATCHING, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED