The Red Orchid joins a slowly growing canon of Indigenous and Native American horror –  Mohawk, Blood Quantum, Prey, and Black Wood – that privileges Native stories in Native languages.  The film opens with onscreen text informing the viewer that the eponymous plant was sought after in the Everglades by the indigenous people for its ritual and healing properties, and we are immediately off and running in the swamp.  Writer/director Montana Cypress plays Nashteh, sent into the Everglades to find the red orchid.  A voiceover in Elaponke, the Seminole-Miccosukee language, provided by “Medicine Man” (Joe Cypress), subtitled in English, explains how Nashteh is to retrieve the flower as well as why: at nightfall the Cornlady comes. Much of the film is in Elaponke, although there are a pair of Christian missionaries, Sister Mary (Stevie Jean Placek) and Bishop Cane (Ross Gosla) who speak only English and a few words of Miccosukee.

The missionaries’ performances are a little amateurish, but in fairness to the performers, they are the least developed in the script, and also the most arbitrary – why does Sister Mary, dressed all in black including her head covering for the entire day suddenly change into an all-white ensemble to walk Yashaneh (Katherine J. Espin) back to her village, other than so the camera will pick her up better in the nighttime scenes?  The four of them: Mary, Nashteh, Cane and Yashaneh hide in the little mission church at nightfall, but alas the Cornlady (Jennifer Bobiwash) arrives, possessing the bishop before Nashteh can stop her with the red orchid.  After a somewhat anticlimactic confrontation with the Cornlady, Mary, Nashteh, and Yashaneh leave the church to head towards the village to let Medicine Man know they have defeated Cornlady.  The films concludes with the de rigueur final stinger/twist, possibly setting up a sequel, possibly just complicating the resolution we just saw.

Cypress is to be celebrated for the beautiful camera work and the obvious loving tribute to Miccosukee culture.  A stronger storyline with higher stakes might have elevated the film; it certainly would have made the narrative more compelling.  The titular red orchid is retrieved in the first few minutes of the film and much of the film is then spent waiting for a confrontation that is over in a matter of seconds.  The film could have been edited tighter, losing several minutes, but gaining in tension and suspense.  Having said that, I was never bored and enjoyed the film greatly.  I look forward to seeing what Cypress might do with a feature film.  In the meantime, we can enjoy The Red Orchid for what it is.