Mekko, which played at the 2016 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), is not a movie I would typically like. An arthouse indie about a man who, after being released from prison after beating a man to death in a drunken rage, goes on a spiritual journey as he falls in with other homeless Native Americans, Mekko is a simultaneously grounded and dreamlike meditation on life as an indigenous person on the fringe of society.
Rod Rondeaux delivers a strong performance as the title character, who drifts through the film looking for purpose, often discussing his feelings and emotions, while expressing many more through nuanced acting.
Writer/director Sterlin Harjo presents Mekko as a quasi-documentary, or as if someone is following Mekko around with a camera. The approach for whatever reason works, the film beautifully simple and utterly believable, even as Mekko delves into poetic monologues about his expectations for life and memories of painful actions he can never take back.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.