Blood & Myth 2025 Movie Review
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.
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.
