Roki (starring Isabel Deroy-Olson), a teenage Native American girl, and her aunt Jax (Lily Gladstone) live together, just the two. It is because Tawi, Roki's mother, went missing two weeks ago. Jax is supposed to protect her niece but upkeeps her life as a drug transporter and never stops Roki, even when she steals things from the supermarket. Crime is a casual behavior for the two. Roki hopes to see her mom at the powwow, a Native American festival, as she knows her mom always participated. However, the court order says Roki's grandparents, not Jax, is the primary caregiver, so Jax tries to take her to powwow even though she has to kidnap her.
The title, Fancy Dance, is a traditional dance that Native American perform on a plain, among which the mother-daughter dance is the most well-known. Roki hopes to dance the fancy dance with her mom but gets involved in crime. It looks like an anti-coming-of-age movie at first glance, but Fancy Dance focuses on the intricate relationship of a pseudo mother and daughter that can not be easily defined. Jax is the only one who embraces Roki and helps her during her first menstruation. Fancy Dance was premiered at this year's Sundance Festival and the first feature film of Erica Tremblay.