Synopsis
Growing up means getting even.
In 1976, a Mi'gMaq teenager plots revenge against the sadistic Indian agent who imprisoned her in a residential school where rape and abuse are common.
Rhymes for Young Ghouls
2013 Directed by Jeff Barnaby
Cast
Popular reviews
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a violent history means a painful present: "rhymes for young ghouls" explores the plight of canadian indigenous people, in this case, a mi’gmaq community in 1976 (and briefly in 1969).
set on residential land known as "the kingdom of crow", the film juxtaposes the breathtaking beauty of the forested landscape with the endless violence and poverty of the community's lives. the protagonist is a young woman named aila who lost her brother, mother, and father all within hours when she was a mere child: one via accident; one through suicide; and the other to prison, though her father returns for a short while. these simultaneous and profound losses, as she says, aged her "a 1000 years," and she grows up…
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A great example of how color palette can feed atmosphere, this film, set in late October, takes the Canadian forests' autumnal hues and makes it fit every scene, in lighting, in costume, in set design, and lets that define the mood. There's an underlying creepiness that's supported by visions of the dead and the signifiers of cold (clothing, bare trees, lighting); there's an overwhelming weight to the film supported by the subject matter (specific actions taken during a genocide). The pacing of the film feels a little bit off as it switches gears from drama to heist film toward the end, but the bittersweet satisfaction of the ending counters that flaw nicely. You want that monster--this symbol of white supremacy,…
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Rhymes for Young Ghouls won't show itself to be an easy watch, but Jeff Barnaby also creates something beautifully poignant in this picture of life within a residential school. But as Barnaby incorporates the supernatural elements into this narrative, it becomes a thoughtful picture of how the disturbing history of the treatment of Indigenous people can remain intact.
The film is hampered from its short running time, considering how much it's willing to explore simultaneously, and I'm not sure that Barnaby's sudden shifts in tone work in his favour, but I'm glad that this was something I came around to viewing.
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There have been many films that attempt to tackle racism from the perspective of the targeted minority groups, a few (very few) have even dealt with Native Americans, though I think Rhymes for Young Ghouls might be the first to do so from a (relatively) modern perspective. The plot is honestly nothing special, following a young Mi'kmaq girl named Aila who deals drugs to bribe her way out of the local Catholic school, she finds herself in a mess when the cops steal her money. The rather ho-hum material is elevated greatly by the setting of a Canadian reservation, weaving into the crime narrative tidbits of traditional lore and legend, giving the story a grand, timeless feel. Additionally, the film's…
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really fucking good. but as someone who worked for one of those shitty online captioning companies, i would just like to say fuck you! to whoever captioned this because it was really sloppy work; like to omit several native names and even mi’gmaq itself as [inaudible] instead of doing the most basic research is so fucking disrespectful and indicative of how deeply pervasive settler-colonialism is. anyway. kawennáhere devery jacobs is absolutely formidable in this. watch this movie.
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Before going full genre film with Blood Quantum, director Jeff Barnaby made this energetic and stylish Mi'kmaq-centered drama. Threaded with pulpy elements - crime, caper, gore, ghosts - yet at its core, Rhymes For Young Ghouls is a grim story set against the backdrop of cultural genocide and generational trauma wrought by Canada’s residential schools and Indian agents. The various tonal/genre shifts don’t all comfortably fit together, the pace often feels too abrupt for the many narrative beats Barnaby is exploring, but the drama’s bleak anger is always incredibly raw and potent. The indigenous cast is uniformly strong, with fierce young lead Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs as the show-stealing star. She’s a riveting screen presence who I’m glad to see getting more work (most recently in Reservation Dogs).
Also cool to see Barnaby had zombies on the brain well before making his zombie movie.
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Decided that now was the time to watch this flick. The aftermath and hurt from residential schools runs deep and this film doesn't hold back. All my love to my Indigenous family around the world, alive or at peace ❤️
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I heard the other day that Jeff Barnaby, the writer/director of BLOOD QUANTUM, one of my favorite horror movies of the past couple years and one of my favorite zombie movies ever, recently died of cancer at the age of 46. A huge loss, for sure: he was just getting started and undoubtedly had a whole lot of memorable stories left to tell. RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS is his first, and only other, full-length movie. I tracked it down on Tubi over the weekend.
This is a highly effective debut and only enforces the tragedy of Barnaby’s passing. The best description I can muster is that it’s a rural, indigenous crime fable in the vein of Boaz Yakin’s FRESH (only,…
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so much to love about this, the reservation is shown so beautifully in way that makes it feel comforting despite being run down and cobbled together without poverty-porn glorifying, a place that is both hated and loved by its residents, even the gore is integrated into the aesthetic so organically it's even more tragic for its normalcy - and that's what broke my heart most about this, that this group of people who can't stop messing up are made sympathetic not because they talk about being oppressed but because they seem to have accepted they're doomed and are trying to keep it together in spite of it, and the terrible things they do on accident or out of sadness or…
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Ahhh this movie feels like home in the worst way. Rhymes for Young Ghouls is a passionately made, stylish and raw film that I have the utmost of respect for.
