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.
About the cast
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.
Watching War Pony on Ktime
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.