TIFF Review: Kaniehtiio Horn’s Seeds

On the heels of appearing in television series like Letterkenny and Reservation Dogs—where she plays the inimitable Deer Lady—and films like Alice, Darling, Kaniehtiio Horn is now making her feature directorial debut with Seeds, a thriller she also writes and in which she stars. 

Seeds is equal parts ecological thriller and home invasion thriller, featuring Horn as Ziggy, a Mohawk woman living in Toronto and just starting to see financial freedom on the horizon, thanks to a juicy brand deal with a Monsanto-like agribusiness called Nature’s Oath Seed Company. At first, Ziggy is stoked to sign a deal with a company that promotes farming and gardening, as she “comes from a long line of farmers”. But she quickly realizes Nature’s Oath isn’t living up to their marketing, and things start to go awry.

Ziggy is a character firmly in Horn’s wheelhouse—smart, tough, no-nonsense. But she’s also coping with an unnamed trauma, cuddling with her therapy cat, Potato (who could not care less about being on camera and in fact leaps out of frame more than once, a true king), and talking about her “journey” to her followers, without ever specifying what, exactly, it is. Horn’s writing is concise, the film runs a trim 82 minutes in no small part because of her early, economical storytelling. Just as Ziggy’s life in Toronto is coming together, she’s called back to the rez to housesit for her auntie, which leaves her stranded in the sticks without a car or reliable internet. 

Horn’s depiction of the reserve is terrific. Fans of Reservation Dogs might recognize certain elements, particularly the humor, which can be dark but generates real laughs. It’s not that Horn is cribbing notes, it’s that Indian Country is Indian Country on either side of the border, and certain things ring true, like questionable access to potable water and the small town, everybody knows everything about everyone gossip network that kicks into gear whenever the least little thing happens. Ziggy is welcomed back like a conquering hero, and indeed, everyone is quick to note what a “badass” she is. Horn probably didn’t need to be so explicit regarding Ziggy’s toughness, it’s contained within her performance, but she’s writing for herself the kind of role she probably doesn’t get offered much, so it’s a forgivable instance of overkill, especially because the film overall is very tight with exposition.

As a director, Horn is equally solid. The film looks great (it’s lensed by cinematographer Jonathon Cliff), it’s got a good soundtrack, and there’s an ease and lack of showiness that speaks to confidence behind the camera. Sometimes actor-directors, especially early on, can over direct, using overly elaborate setups and shots, as if to prove they know what a camera is and how to point it. There’s no sense of that in Seeds, this film could not be more efficiently made from a narrative or visual standpoint. I have only one gripe with Horn’s directing, and that’s a preference for natural light. Most of the time, it’s not an issue, but it does mean a significant chunk of the climax happens in scenes almost too dark to see. I wish filmmakers would realize natural light is almost never their friend, especially at night and especially when it makes it hard to see action unfolding. 

But except for a few sequences that require squinting, Seeds is a good-looking film made by a confident director. It’s also just plain entertaining, offering everything from blood-soaked revenge to an Unsolved Mysteries-like show hosted by Graham Greene who apparently has a black cat for a sidekick—I would watch that show! That’s SUCH a specific bit, of all the ways to get Graham Greene in your movie, Kaniehtiio Horn imagines him as a true crime host with a cat, which is a stellar piece of writing. That’s the level of excellence on which Seeds is operating, though I must mention an instance of animal cruelty. It’s not overly graphic, but it’s obvious what is happening. Overall, though, Seeds is a genuinely suspenseful thriller with an ecological bent, with some good humor and action sprinkled throughout, and a fantastic performance from Horn, too. It’s a great feature debut from Kaniehtiio Horn.