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Intro
Evan Whitesky shoots a moose, makes a tobacco offering, and hauls the carcass into his truck. Evan has been hard at work hunting food for the winter, and he’ll share his bounty with his Anishinaabe community. Evan drives home to his partner Nicole, son Maiingan, and daughter Nangohns. The television is out, but they think it’ll be back on soon. The next day, Evan visits his parents, Dan and Patricia. Last night, Dan dreamed that he saw Evan looking gaunt and scared, standing in front of a fire. A couple days later, at a community meeting, the reserve’s chief, Terry Meegis, advises the community to conserve energy because the power grid is offline—they’re running on back-up diesel generators. The reserve’s oldest member and spiritual guide, Aileen Jones, blesses the meeting with a sage ceremony.
Later that week, local teenagers Nick Jonas and his friend Kevin arrive on snowmobiles. They fled their school in Gibson (the nearest town, 300 kilometers south) after the power went out and people began rioting. The next day, a large man named Justin Scott arrives on a snowmobile, explaining that the power also went out in his town, which erupted in violent chaos. Terry doesn’t want to turn Scott away—but other council members (who run the reserve), like Walter, are wary about Scott’s arrival. They agree to let Scott stay if he keeps a low profile and contributes to the community. That evening, Scott bursts in, saying that he may as well meet everyone, and Evan’s skin crawls. That night, Evan dreams about a room filled with dead bodies.
Some days later, Evan disrupts a party at his younger brother Cam’s house, angry that people are wasting energy. Evan grows angrier when he sees a teenager named Jenna sitting on Scott’s lap. Evan lunges at Scott, but Scott stands and towers over Evan. Evan backs off and leaves the party. The next morning, Evan learns that Jenna and her friend Tara froze to death while trying to walk home from the party. As they lay the frozen bodies in the community garage, Scott bursts in to say that more snowmobiles are approaching. A man named Mark Phillips dismounts, begging for help. Phillips’s town exploded into deadly chaos after the power went out, and he’s desperate. Scott rashly fires his gun, killing Phillips. Scott thinks that they need to take a stand because more people will come looking for help. Evan realizes that Terry has lost control of the reserve.
A couple months later, Evan is visiting Aileen, as he often does. Aileen is perplexed about why people keep saying “apocalypse.” Aileen thinks the Anishinaabe’s world already ended when European settlers drove the Anishinaabe north into this harsh territory; it ended again when they took Anishinaabe children and forced them to speak English. Yet somehow, the Anishinaabe are still here. Evan feels comforted. Aileen advises Evan to take care of Nicole, whom Aileen has taught traditional medicine. Nicole’s knowledge will be important if the power doesn’t come back on.
Meanwhile, Nicole takes the children for a sleigh ride and bumps into Meghan, one of the people who arrived with Mark Phillips, who’s currently living in Scott’s side of the reserve. Meghan looks gaunt, and she’s fumbling with an empty rabbit trap. Meghan blurts out that Scott is horrible—he threatens everybody, and he hoards most of the food and wood for himself. Meghan’s husband, Brad, does too. Concerned, Nicole offers Meghan a rest and a warm drink, but Meghan declines. She has to find food for Scott before he gets angry. Later, Evan learns that Cam (who also lives near Scott) is growing thinner by the day. That evening, Nicole, Evan, their children, and Evan’s parents gather around the kitchen table. Dan tells an Anishinaabe myth about Nanabush, a greedy character who kills all the geese he finds instead of just a few. When somebody steals the geese, Nanabush has nothing left to eat.
Some days later, council members dole out canned food reserves to a restless line of hungry, frustrated people. Scott emerges, looking menacing, and cryptically says that he has a plan to feed the community if they’ll work with him. A few weeks later, Evan stokes a fire in a tipi tent nestled deep in the forest. He’s building a refuge for his family, in case the situation on the reserve deteriorates. Outside, the snow blows fiercely, but the tent is warm and comforting. Evan drifts to sleep and dreams that a snarling monster with Scott’s face is running toward him.
That night, Aileen dies in her sleep. She was the last person who knew the Anishinaabemowin language and rituals in full. Evan struggles to fight back tears as he drags Aileen’s body to the community garage, which is full of bodies waiting to be buried. Suddenly, Evan notices that a body is missing. He knows instantly that Scott took it. Evan, Isaiah, and Tyler head to Scott’s complex to confront him. They spot Scott standing by a fire, watching a pot simmer. Cam emerges, sobbing and covered in blood. Evan feels sick as he asks Scott if there’s a body in the pot. Tyler lunges for Scott, and Scott fires his gun. Evan crumples to the ground—it’s unclear if he’s dead or alive. Suddenly, Scott’s head splits open—Meghan has shot him from behind. Tyler and Isaiah lug Scott’s body to a distant ravine, leaving it for the wolves.
In the epilogue, it’s two years later, and the power never came back on. Nicole lifts her sunglasses as she takes a last look around the house. She won’t need anything in here anymore. The community can’t bear to stay in a place filled with such loss, so they’re leaving. Outside, Maiingan and Nangohns play with their grandparents on the grass. Nicole scoops up the kids and says, “Let’s go see Daddy.” They head to a new settlement, deep in the woods, without looking back.
