Director: Riley Keough, Gina Gammell
Two very different ages of growing up meet on the same stretch of South Dakota land in War Pony, a 2023 drama co-directed by Riley Keough and Gina Gammell.
What is War Pony about?
On the Pine Ridge Reservation, 23-year-old Bill scrambles between odd jobs and half-formed schemes, always chasing the next plan that might finally put him ahead. Across the same community, 12-year-old Matho is impatient to be treated like an adult, testing out independence in ways that put him on a collision course with consequences he isn't ready for. The film moves between their two timelines without forcing them into a single plot, instead letting each boy's daily choices accumulate into a portrait of what it means to come of age with very few safety nets underneath you. Neither story resolves neatly; both track how family, money pressure, and the search for belonging shape which paths stay open and which quietly close.
Cast & crew
Jojo Bapteise Whiting and LaDainian Crazy Thunder lead the film as Bill and Matho, with Robert Stover, Ashley Shelton, Iona Red Bear, Ta-Yamni Long Black Cat, Wilma Colhof, and Jeremy Corbin Cottier rounding out a cast drawn largely from the Pine Ridge community the story is set in.
Context & significance
War Pony grew out of years of collaboration between its directors and members of the Oglala Lakota community, with several cast members credited as co-writers of the story lines drawn from their own lives. The result sits closer to observational drama than conventional narrative filmmaking, favoring lived-in detail over plot mechanics. It premiered at Cannes in 2023 before a wider theatrical and on-demand release, and it's counted among the more distinctive American independent dramas of that year.
Where & how to watch
War Pony is available on K-Time with a Persian dub and Persian subtitles, and the entire K-Time interface is in Farsi, making it easy for Persian-speaking households to find and follow. No login is needed to read this page, though a free K-Time account is required to watch the film.