“Frybread Face and Me”, which was released on Netflix in US around the end of last year, is a little but likable coming-of-age drama about one summer of a little Native American boy who becomes more aware of himself and the world surrounding him. Yes, this is another bittersweet tale about growth and nostalgia, but it is handled well with enough sensitivity and specific details to be appreciated, and you may actually wish that it could show more of those several colorful characters around its little hero.

In the beginning, we get to know about how Benny (Keir Tallman) happens to be sent to the Native American reservation region of Arizona. As the narration of adult Benny dryly tells us, his parents were pretty dysfunctional as a couple when they and Benny lived together in San Diego, California in 1991, and then he was suddenly notified that he was going to spend the upcoming summer with his maternal grandmother in Arizona. Although he is not so pleased about this decision, there is nothing he can do about that, and, as revealed later in the story, he knows well why his parents decided to send him to Arizona.

Anyway, he eventually travels to Arizona along with his paternal grandmother, and then he is picked up by one of his relatives right after his arrival. While wholeheartedly welcoming Benny, Aunt Lucy (Kahara Hodges) simply takes him to her mother’s residence and then goes away for her own business, and Benny comes to dread more of how much he will be bored as staying with Grandma (Sarah H. Natani) and Uncle Marvin (Martin Sensmeier). While Grandma cannot speak English at all, Uncle Marvin is mostly occupied with his professional rodeo career, and, as your typical tough guy, he also does not like much how Benny often plays with his little dolls (The movie does a subtle job of conveying to us its hero’s emerging homosexuality, by the way).

At least, there soon comes another person to stay in Grandma’s residence. That person in question is an older female cousin nicknamed Frybread Face (Charley Hogan), and she does not like much Benny at first while he is not so friendly to her either, but they eventually befriend each other because, well, there is really nothing much else to do for them except doing some work for their grandmother’s little sheep farm. She may look a bit childish as frequently taking a shabby handmade doll along with her, but Frybread Face turns out to have her own childhood pain and frustration behind her detached attitude, and it does not take much time for her and Benny to get a bit friendlier to each other.

Once its few main characters are established, the screenplay by director/writer Billy Luther, who also serves as the narrator of the film, leisurely rolls its story and characters from one episodic moment to another. There is an amusing scene where Benny happens to have a little honor of making a baby cousin laugh for the first time, and then we also get a touching moment as he gets to know more about Grandma’s traditional craftsmanship. As spending more time with her, Benny comes to respect and care about Grandma more than before, and he also becomes able to speak her Navajo language to some degree.

Above all, Benny comes to express himself more than before thanks to his growing relationship with Frybread Face, who has no problem at all with his more sensitive sides. While he gladly shares his enthusiasm on a certain popular pop music band, Frybread Face shares her longtime crush on the lead actor of John Carpenter’s little charming SF film “Starman” (1984), which they watch together from time to time.

In my inconsequential opinion, the movie could be improved with more details in terms of story and characters, but this considerable weak aspect is compensated by the enough realism and sensitivity felt from the screen. While there are a few moments of conflict, the movie still sticks to its calm and thoughtful attitude, and Luther and his crew members including cinematographer Peter Simonite did a commendable job of immersing us more into the small background inhabited by its few main characters.

Luther also drew solid performances from his main cast members, who are all believable as effortlessly embodying their respective parts. As the unadorned center of the film, Keir Tallman is engaging in his character’s gradual maturation along the story, and he and Charley Hogan click well with each other during a number of key scenes of theirs. In case of several adult performers surrounding them, Sarah H. Natani is an inarguable standout, and Martin Sensmeier and Kahara Hodges fill their relatively under-developed supporting roles with enough life and personality.

On the whole, “Frybread Face and Me” may require some patience from you mainly due to its slow narrative pacing, but it is still a rewarding experience because of not only its dry but affectionate storytelling but also its distinctive main characters. Although I have no idea on how much it is actually personal for him, Luther, who made several documentaries and short films before making a feature film debut here, gives us an intimate drama film which deserves to be mentioned along with a number of recent notable Native American drama films such as “Fancy Dance” (2023), and it is certainly worthwhile to check it out if you admired those movies.