Genre: Horror/Fantasy/Thriller
Director: Jeff Barnaby
Writer: Rene Menzie
Producer: James Wan
Based on the novel by Stephen Graham Jones
Cast: Martin Sensmeier, Amber Midthunder, Kiowa Gordon, Alex Meraz, Mila Kunis, Gil Birmingham, Tatanka Means, Tanaya Beatty, Miika Bryce Whiskeyjack, Julian Ballentyne, Vincent D'Onofrio
Plot: In the present day, in Williston, North Dakota, follows Richard “Ricky” Boss Ribs (Tatanka Means). Ricky is a Native American of the Blackfeet community. Ricky grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation, but he left years ago. He has been working manual labor jobs, most recently a job with an oil-drilling crew. Ricky recently learned that his younger brother, Cheeto, died of a drug overdose in a home on the reservation. Ricky briefly reminisces about when he was still on the reservation, precisely when he went out hunting elk and other big games with some of his friends. Ricky arrives at a roadside bar one night and sees an elk. The elk suddenly slams itself into trucks in the parking lot, damaging them and setting off the alarms. The elk flees, and a group of white men emerges from the bar. Believing that Ricky was vandalizing their trucks, the men attack and kill Ricky.
A Blackfeet Native American named Lewis A. Clark (Martin Sensmeier). He has not lived on the reservation in years, but he still lives in Montana, specifically in Great Falls. He was a friend of Ricky years ago. Lewis lives with his wife, a white woman named Peta (Mila Kunis). They have a pet dog named Harley. Recently, Lewis had a strange vision of a dead elk lying in his home's living room. At this point, the novel offers little context to the vision, other than that Lewis has feelings of guilt associated with it.
Lewis goes to his job at the local post office. He has phone calls with Cass (Alex Meraz) and Gabe (Kiowa Gordon), two friends of his from the Blackfeet Reservation. They discuss the upcoming tenth anniversary of an important event, but they do not discuss the event in detail. They also mention Denny Pease (Vincent D'Onofrio), head of the local hunting and fishing commission, towards whom they feel some resentment.
Lewis arrives at his home with some local friends. In Lewis’ backyard, they find Lewis’ dog, Harley, apparently dying. Lewis had tethered Harley to a collar and leash. Something had scared the dog, causing it to climb over a decaying fence. Harley was now hanging by the collar, suffocating. When Lewis and his friends try to free the dog, the dog bites them.
Lewis tends to the dying Harley in his house. Lewis thinks about his relationship with Peta. He is grateful for her love and kindness. Lewis talks to Peta about a recent accident. Lewis was on a ladder when he thought he saw a dead elk in their home. The surprise caused him to fall and nearly become injured. Lewis thinks with a sense of guilt about shooting an adolescent female elk ten years ago.
Shaney (Amber Midthunder) visits Lewis. Shaney is a new coworker at Lewis’ work. Shaney asks to play basketball with Lewis and borrow a book from him. Lewis often reads sci-fi and fantasy novels. Shaney is flirtatious, which makes Lewis uncomfortable. Lewis notices scars on Shaney’s face and torso, but she offers no explanation.
A flashback takes place ten years ago. Lewis, Ricky, Gabe, and Cass were on or near the Blackfeet Reservation, hunting elk with rifles. They were excited by the idea of the hunt, which they felt would connect them to their ancestors in some symbolic way. It was snowing, and they were tracking elk footprints. They saw a herd of elk cross into an off-limits section, except to Blackfeet elders. The four hunters decided to venture into the area to follow the herd. Soon, they found an exceptionally large herd of elk, and they began firing their rifles into it. They each managed to kill at least one elk. Gabe dubbed the event the ‘Thanksgiving Classic,’ since it was almost Thanksgiving Day. At one point, the recoil of Lewis’s rifle causes his gun scope to hit his eye, leaving a wound. They approached the felled elk, and Lewis was disturbed to find that he had shot a juvenile female elk. It lay dying in the snow.
In Lewis’ home, Lewis had recounted the events of the Thanksgiving Classic to Shaney. Peta walked in and saw them. Peta felt betrayed; for Lewis to tell Shaney something so personal was akin to emotional infidelity. Peta becomes emotionally withdrawn in the following days. Also, the dying dog Harley appears to have new injuries, appearing as if he had been stomped by an elk. Lewis grows scared. He thinks back to the Thanksgiving classic, remembering with guilt that the elk he killed had been pregnant. The four hunters were caught by Denny Pease, the game warden, who then permanently revoked their hunting privileges.
two police officers arrive at Lewis’s home. They received a report about Harley biting someone. Lewis informs them that he euthanized and buried Harley. The officers are hostile towards Lewis, and they say that they will have to send someone to dig up Harley. Later, Lewis worries that the spirit of an elk he killed has begun to seek revenge upon him. Then he worries that he might be losing his sanity. Later that day, Lewis has a brief vision of a woman with the head of an elk.
Lewis is in bed, feeling restless. He thinks about how he angrily left the reservation after the Thanksgiving Classic debacle. Gabe and Cass eventually left as well. He hears a noise in or near the house. He sees no one around, but he does find the book that Shaney borrowed from him recently. In the book, he finds questions that Shaney has written, about the elk hunt and the recent strange events. Lewis realizes that, recently, the last of the Blackfeet who had been elders during the Thanksgiving Classic, died. Lewis wonders if their death has in some way enabled the recent events.
Lewis tries to refocus on his work and his marriage. However, he becomes plagued by the thought that, somehow, Shaney is the elk-headed woman that he saw. He soon becomes consumed with the idea that he needs to execute a specific series of actions to banish the elk woman from his life.
Lewis sees that Harley’s grave has apparently been dug up. When Lewis sees the sheets in which he had wrapped the body, their layout almost seems to indicate that Harley dug himself out and then walked away. Lewis asks Shaney to come to his house. Lewis tries to scrutinize her to have a vision of the dangerous spirit—the Elk Head Woman—again. He does not have a vision, but he remains convinced that she is the Elk Head Woman. Using a motorcycle, he orchestrates an ‘accident’ that breaks Shaney’s neck.
Lewis tries to figure out where to dispose of Shaney’s body. He also thinks back to the things that led him to believe that she was the Elk Head Woman, and he momentarily worries that he might have been paranoid or mistaken. He then worries that Shaney manipulated him into killing her to endanger Lewis’s life and freedom. Lewis believes that to banish the spirit, he must skin the body. However, Peta soon arrives home. Shortly thereafter, Peta suddenly trips, hits her head, and dies. Lewis sees something move within her stomach, and he cuts a baby elk out of her womb. Lewis picks up the elk and tries to escape with it. He is soon caught and killed by local vigilantes.
from the perspective of the vengeful elk spirit. It has now successfully achieved revenge against Ricky and Lewis. After Lewis killed Shaney, the elk spirit transferred itself into a fetus in Peta’s womb. The spirit then occupied the baby elk that Lewis cut out of Peta, but it has since transferred itself into another human body.
Denorah (Miika Bryce Whiskeyjack) is 12 years old and is the daughter of Gabe (full name Gabriel Cross Guns.) Denorah is a dedicated basketball player, and despite her young age, it is already apparent that she is exceptionally talented. Her goal is to be a professional basketball player. She does not have much passion for academics, but she is determined to maintain adequate grades to continue to play on school basketball teams. Denorah’s older stepsister, Trace, is currently attending college on a basketball scholarship. From a young age, Denorah noticed that white players/spectators often shout racist abuse at Native American ones. One day, Denorah sees a girl staring at her. The narration implies that this girl is the elk spirit.
Gabriel “Gabe” Cross Guns lives on the Blackfeet Reservation, which is headquartered in Browning, Montana. He shares custody of Denorah with Denorah’s mother, Trina Trigo. Trina is married to a different man. One day, Gabe shows Denorah an antique Mauser rifle he owns. Denorah brings up the subjects of Ricky and Lewis’s deaths. Gabe, saddened by the deaths, avoids the subject. He is also confused by the appearance that Lewis may have killed Peta and Shaney. While driving his truck, Gabe sees an unfamiliar girl. The narrative reveals that it is the elk spirit. The elk spirit plans on further morphing and changing its appearance so it will not matter that Gabe saw her.
Cass, whose first name is Cassidy Thinks Twice. Like Gabe, Cassidy still lives on the Blackfeet Reservation. Cassidy used to sell illegal drugs, but he is determined to live a more structured, law-abiding life now. He is in a relationship with Jolene (Tanaya Beatty), also known by her nickname "Jo", a woman from the Crow community. Recently, Gabe had the idea to do a traditional Native sweat lodge ritual, and Cassidy agreed to participate. Cassidy works to construct a small, makeshift sweat lodge. A few days before the ritual, Cassidy and Jo talk about Lewis’s recent death. Later in the conversation, Jo persuades Cassidy to hide the money he made from dealing drugs. He decides to hide it in a thermos under a rusted-out truck. Then, when Cassidy looks outside his home, he sees nearly a hundred elk, standing still, looking at him. He considers changing his name to Cassidy Sees Elk.
Gabe thinks about Ricky and Cheeto and Lewis, who are all now deceased. He also thinks of the unfamiliar girl he saw by the road recently. Gabe then thinks about Denorah and worries that, in her teenage or early adult years, she will grow restless and will seek trouble. He dislikes how basketball coaches sometimes suppress Denorah’s playing potential; he thinks of a Native folk legend about Natives who were too fast on their horses to be shot by settlers. The narration then reveals that Gabe has continued to hunt elk even though he was banned from doing so. At the end of the chapter, Gabe is driving his truck home, and he sees a full-grown woman wearing clothes that appear to be too small for her.
The narrative shifts focus to Denorah. She is practicing basketball on an outdoor court. Gabe arrives in his truck to greet her and wish her luck on tomorrow’s game. Denorah is a little uneasy when she realizes that Gabe has been illegally hunting. Also, her stepfather disapproves of Gabe.
Gabe meets with Cassidy in preparation for their sweat lodge ritual. A Blackfeet man named Victor Yellow Tail (Gil Birmingham) is paying Gabe and Cassidy to let Victor and his pre-teen son Nathan, also known as Nate (Julian Ballentyne). Victor works as a reservation police officer, meaning he is commissioned by the reservation, and his jurisdiction does not extend beyond the reservation's borders. After Gabe and Cassidy construct a makeshift sweat lodge, the two of them pass some time talking about their trucks, and about the antique Mauser gun that Gabe’s father gave to him.
The elk spirit watches Gabe, Cassidy, Victor, and Nathan congregate at the makeshift sweat lodge. Gabe explains to Nathan that the sweat lodge is a ritual of spiritual purity. Nathan asks Gabe and Cassidy about their recently deceased friends. Gabe and Cassidy evade the question and talk about native history and lore instead.
they enter the sweat lodge. Gabe continues to try to impress upon Nathan the significance of the ritual, but Nathan remains somewhat distant and skeptical. Nonetheless, they continue with the ritual as the steam begins to fill the lodge.
Victor waits outside the lodge and listens to the singing and drumming coming from inside. Soon, he hears movement from somewhere nearby. A woman approaches and attacks him. From the scene details, it is clear to the reader that the woman is the elk spirit, once again in the form of Shaney.
shifts focus back to the inside of the sweat lodge. Cassidy is enjoying the ritual, and he begins to think about ways that he might be able to have his hunting privileges reinstated. At the end of the hour-long ritual, Cassidy and Gabe commemorate Lewis and Ricky. Nathan commemorates a deceased friend of his named Tre, but he offers no explanation as to how Tre died. Cassidy considers it odd that Gabe, who is somewhat reckless, is still alive, while Ricky and Lewis are dead. Cassidy wonders if he and Gabe have better safety because they remained on the reservation. Cassidy and Gabe discuss the Thanksgiving Classic and tell Nathan about it. Since Victor is nowhere to be seen Cassidy walks to his house nearby. There, he speaks to Jo. Jo has just learned that one of the women Lewis killed (Shaney) is her cousin and that Shaney’s mother now has no surviving children.
shifts focus to Gabe. Gabe, Cassidy, and Nathan are drinking sodas near the sweat lodge, expecting Victor to return soon. Gabe briefly thinks with nostalgia about when he, Cassidy, Lewis, and Ricky were all friends as children. Soon, Gabe searches the vicinity for Victor. He finds two young dogs that have been fatally stomped, as if by a hoof. Gabe realizes that they belong to Cassidy, but he decides not to tell Cassidy about it, for now.
shifts focus to Nathan. Nathan is enjoying the sweat lodge and he tries to remember traditional Blackfeet words that he has learned in the past. He thinks fondly about Denorah and her fierce spirit. Then he wonders if he will be like Gabe and Cassidy when he is their age.
shifts focus to the perspective of the elk spirit. It waits near the sweat lodge and watches it. Cassidy emerges and finds his two dogs, which the elk spirit killed. Cassidy grows furious with Gabe, apparently thinking that Gabe killed the dogs. Cassidy and Gabe argue with each other, working themselves into a frenzy. Soon, they begin vandalizing Cassidy’s old truck. Gabe drives the truck a short way and appears to fatally strike Jo. Cassidy picks up Gabe’s gun and fires. He misses Gabe and appears to fatally strike Denorah. Gabe kills Cassidy. Gabe then realizes that Jo and Denorah were not actually present and that their deaths were some form of illusion. Gabe tries to think of where he might be able to go to live in secret. However, seeing no way out, he kills himself with the gun. The chapter ends with a newspaper article about local basketball games. The article states that a talent scout may be visiting games in the area. If the scout sees Denorah play in her upcoming scrimmage game, her talent will likely make her a standout, despite her relatively young age. Such recognition could bode well for her future scholarship prospects.
Denorah arrives at the sweat lodge on the morning after the sweat lodge ceremony. No one knows about the deaths yet. When she nears the sweat lodge and Cassidy’s house, she sees an unfamiliar woman, who claims that she is Shaney. (It is the elk spirit.) Shaney says that Cassidy, Gabe, Nathan, and Victor have gone on a brief horseback ride and will be back soon. She then challenges Denorah to a one-on-one basketball game on the nearby basketball court. Denorah accepts. They begin to play, and Denorah is shocked to see how skilled Shaney is.
Denorah and Shaney are tied at 15 points each, playing to 21. Denorah pushes herself to nearly her limit, determined to win for the dignity of Blackfeet. This thinking is compelled in part by Denorah’s knowledge that Shaney is a Crow, who are rivals of the Blackfeet. However, she also does not want to injure herself before her actual game, which is later that day. Shaney begins to grow unsteady, and she accidentally runs into the pole of the basket. Shaney becomes frenzied; her eyes change in appearance, and she begins to explain her true identity. Shaney insists that they continue the game. Denorah believes that Shaney might not kill her if Denorah can win the game. Soon, Victor appears, badly injured but still alive. He fires his gun at Shaney, who begins to transform into the Elk Head Woman. Denorah falls into the sweat lodge, which she now sees contains Cassidy and Gabe's dead bodies. Elk Head Woman kills Victor, and Denorah begins to run for her life.
Denorah continues to flee, and Elk Head Woman pursues her. Denorah searches for a place to hide. Denorah eventually reaches a railway, and the Elk Head Woman stops pursuing. Denorah recalls that elk have learned to avoid railroads as dangerous places.
Denorah continues to run through the reservation, in search of safety. The Elk Head Woman continues to pursue Denorah. Eventually, Nathan, who's injured but still alive, catches up to them on Cassidy’s horse. Denorah, recalling that the Elk Head Woman is Crow, feels determined no to let her win. Denorah tells Nathan to get help.
Denorah continues to run, but she falls into a ravine of thorny plants. She is badly injured and feels that she might die soon. She feels sad that she did not have a closer relationship with Gabe. She has a vision of bones. She wonders if they are the bones of slain Natives or the bones of elk killed by Gabe. Elk Head Woman approaches, and Denorah sees a newborn elk on the ground. Suddenly, Denorah’s stepfather arrives and shoots the Elk Head Woman. Denorah suddenly feels a sense of understanding for the Elk Head Woman. To stop the cycle of violence, Denorah expresses her compassion and respect to the woman with a hand gesture. Later, she adopts this gesture at the ends of basketball games, to show respect for the crow and all Native American communities.
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