Reservation Dogs review – a stereotype-smashing, Tarantino-esque triumph
Taika Waititi teams up with Native American showrunner Sterlin Harjo for a magical coming-of-age comedy about four teens who go on a lackadaisical crime spree
Before he cavorted with Rita Ora at this year’s Met gala in New York, before he took us on a psychedelic tour of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Taika Waititi was known as a compassionate chronicler of childhood adventures. His early feature films, Boy (2010) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), set in New Zealand, drew affecting and very funny portraits of young people on the cusp of innocence and knowing. Much of that same magic has been transported to Indian Territory, Oklahoma for this comedy series on Disney+. Now though, Waititi has appropriately taken a backseat to Sterlin Harjo, co-creator and the showrunner, who is a lifelong Oklahoman and member of the Muscogee and Seminole Nations.
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Lane Factor and Paulina Alexis star as Bear, Elora Danan (yes, like the baby in 80s film Willow), Cheese and Willie Jack – four Native American teenagers who have embarked on a lackadaisical crime spree to fund the Californian escape they dream of. It is this rural community, with its cycles of poverty and addiction, that they blame for the death of their friend Daniel.
