Stream It Or Skip It?

Directed by Kahlil Hudson, Blood & Myth centers around Kotzebue, Alaska native James Dommek Jr. and his interest in the case of Teddy Kyle Smith, who murdered his mother and shot two other men in 2012 and became a fugitive. It’s a story that not only involves a true crime case, but a centuries-old mythology in the Iñupiaq nation that Smith claims drove him to violence.

The Gist: Smith and Dommek were both part of Iñupiaq community in the northern territories of Alaska, and Dommek was shocked that Smith was involved in these violent crimes. He knew about Smith because of Smith’s role in the 2011 film On The Ice, one of the first films that was about the lives of Indigenous communities in Alaska that didn’t delve into stereotypes.

What fascinated Dommek about Smith’s case is that, once Smith was finally caught by law enforcement, he told them that, as he was hiking through very rough terrain and not protected against the elements, he saw Iñukuns, evil “little people” that the Iñupiaq have been talking about in their legends for centuries, and the Iñukuns influenced him to commit those violent acts.

While Dommek kept looking into Smith’s case, he kept looking to visit Smith, serving a 90-year term in prison, and interview him about the violence he committed and his claim about the Iñukuns. Dommek finally gets to do so, but ends up with as many questions as he did before talking to him.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: If we could find a similar documentary, we would. But this specific combination of Indigenous myth and true crime is unique and it definitely had our attention.

Performance Worth Watching: Dommek is the dominant voice in this film, and for good reason: His perspective on the case is from being a fellow Iñupiaq who has heard the stories about Iñukuns, but is a man who is generally rooted in practicality. Whether he believes the mythology or not, he does acknowledge that it needs to exist to give his community a sense of identity.

Memorable Dialogue: We see Dammek listening to recordings of interviews Smith did after his arrest; he tells his attorney about the Iñukuns: “I believed that if I opened a conversation with them that would be like an open agreement that I’m… willing to go with them.” When the lawyer asks “What happens if you follow them?” Smith replies, “Never come back.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Even though the case of Teddy Kyle Smith is somewhat complex, Blood & Myth really isn’t that complicated a film, because it’s told from Dammek’s perspective. He wanted to dig into the case, especially the parts involving Smith’s supposed sighting of the Iñukuns, so most of the documentary consists of recordings of Smith’s interviews that he got via an FOIA request.

Visually, there are some reenactments and some animations, but for the most part, the style of the film consists of straightforward talking-head interviews, newspaper clippings and some archival footage.

The story certainly centers on Dammek’s quest to talk to Smith, but when he ultimately gets a chance, Smith gives somewhat circular responses to Dammek’s questions. He acknowledges that he may have had a choice when it came to his actions back then, but the choice was still couched in the way he responded to the Iñukuns. It was a bit of a letdown, given the notion that the film was building towards Dammek finally getting to talk to Smith.

But Blood & Myth succeeds in giving the audience a look at the Iñupiaq nation and the mythologies that have been passed on for generations. That alone makes it worth a look.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The main story of Blood & Myth falls a little flat because of a disappointing ending, but its insights into the Indigenous nations in Alaska’s northern territories are invaluable.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.