Based on Marie Clements’ play Tombs of the Vanishing Indian, and adapted and directed for the screen by the playwright, How We Stand is about three sisters searching for their place in the world after their mother is violently taken from them, and they’re all sent to foster homes.

20 years later, in 1973, eldest Jessie (Amber Midthunder) is completing her residency as a doctor. Miranda (Alyssa Wapanatâhk) is working towards an activist and acting career. But youngest Janey (Isabel DeRoy-Olson) is in distress, imagining a dead child nobody else can see.

As the story progresses, Jessie begins to realize that she and her white husband may be on diverging paths, especially when it comes to the rights of Indigenous peoples. Miranda’s hopes of finding an understanding ally in the director of a western enters choppy waters. While Janey’s path starts to become clear. 

Mixing realism with magical realism, the human world and the spirit world, and the distant past with the recent past, How We Stand tells the story of place and people, and teaches audiences about a government-mandated medical genocide against Indigenous peoples.

I loved this film. I loved watching these three sisters, so different from each other, on such differing paths, yet each channeling resilience in their everyday interactions.

There’s a scene where Jessie has to deal with her in-laws’ overt racism which was angering to watch but also deeply satisfying. I absolutely loved Miranda’s constant takedowns of the director. Those were definitely the funniest moments of the film. Janey spends much of the film extremely lost and vulnerable, but even she finds her strength in the end.

I’ve never seen a film like How We Stand. I’ve read about the relocation acts and the forced sterilizations of Indigenous peoples. But I’ve never seen it depicted on the big screen. 

And that’s why diversity and representation is so important. As Amber Midthunder mentioned during the Q and A at the TIFF premiere, her family was impacted by relocation. I’ve heard podcasts about people wondering why they couldn’t have children after going to the hospital for non-reproductive procedures.

But with this film, we see what those relocations looked like for the people that were impacted. And we live through the shock of forced sterilizations.

I was so enrapt in the film, I didn’t know where the time went. The film knows how to play with the audience’s emotions — it never lets us be complacent. There’s a twist and turn hiding in every corner. Some good, some bad. But all leading us to a conclusion that thoroughly deserved the thunderous applause it received.

I also appreciate that the film never looks like it’s been adapted from a play. So many play-to-screen adaptations limit their locations and shot choices. But How We Stand makes the most of its medium. It looks like a film through and through.

I enjoyed the performances in the film. I’ve watched Amber Midthunder in several films now and she has the most expressive eyes. She says so much with a look; it’s magical watching her.

I feel like I just saw Isabel DeRoy-Olson in Fancy Dance. She was so little and now she’s grown up. She had the hardest role, playing Janey amidst a psychological and spiritual crisis. But the way she carried the latter half of the film. Ufff. Goosebumps. 

But if I had to choose one performance that blew me away, it would be Alyssa Wapanatâhk. Granted, Miranda is the most fun to watch because she gets to tell the director off and make fun of westerns and cowboys and ‘Indians’. But in less careful hands, this role could have been cringey or over the top. Instead, every one of Miranda’s verbal victories had me hooting and applauding. And her more emotional moments hit hard.

It’s hard to put on my critical hat for How We Stand because what does one compare this story to? From a filmmaking standpoint, some scenes could have been tighter. But that’s just me as a film critic. I rather doubt film-goers will notice, or care, that some scenes lingered for a beat longer.

Following the premiere, the How We Stand cast and crew took to the stage to share their experiences with the film. According to Marie Clements, it's taken 19 years to make this film a reality. And DeRoy-Olson mentioned that the criminalization of forced sterilization only happened this year, in 2026!

The moment I saw Midthunder had a new film at TIFF, I knew I’d be watching it. I didn’t know how but it was high on my list. I am so glad and relieved that I got to see this film, that too at the world premiere. It’s everything I want from a film — surreal, raw, beautiful, hilarious, emotional. How many adjectives do I use before you want me to stop?

I feel like saying too much will give away the highlights of How We Stand. You have to watch this film because it needs to be experienced. The way the stories and subplots tie together will shock and thrill you. The performances are natural and the message is so powerful. We need more of these stories on the big screen.