A young girl in a futuristic world must evade a deadly rival tribe in this very exciting thriller from writer-director K.C. Carthew.

Ten years ago in 2134, Sumi’s mother was killed by the Morad Tribe, a vicious gang of hunters who are the alphas of the land. Sumi survives the attack and is found by a polar bear. Instead of killing Sumi, the bear raises Sumi as she teaches herself the ways of the hunter. It is now 2144 and while searching the area, she is attacked by the Morad and kidnapped. Using her survival skills, she is able to narrowly escape the Morad and sets out to stay hidden. 

En route to evade the Morad, she first comes across an elderly woman named Dee. Dee takes Sumi in gives her food. When the Morad catches up, Dee sacrifices herself saving Sumi, who makes another narrow escape. As Sumi finds herself taking on the Morad with her skills, she finds a girl her age who she saves and uses a rare power she has to bring her to life. Together, they decide to find the Polaris star as it leads to the last safe haven. 

When it comes to some great films with children as the warriors or heroes, one can think of Nils Gaup’s 1987 classic Pathfinder and even Gaup’s 1990 Disney-distributed tale Shipwrecked. For writer-director Kirsten “K.C.” Carthew, her tale is more similar to the former with quite an interesting twist that it is about a young Yukon girl who is raised by a polar bear and sets out to seek the Polaris Star. However, there is a twist as our hero Sumi is not only the last of her tribe, but she has a strange power that she emits from her hands. 

Deadly Class’s Viva Lee is excellent in the pivotal role of Sumi. What’s great with this film is that there is dialogue at times, but there is no English. I believe the language used in the film is more closer to Inuit or something similar, but through body language, we get an understanding of what goes on in the film. Lee handles herself well in the action sequences thanks to stunt coordinator Angelica Lisk-Han. We see Lee jumping from a snowmobile to a tree and engage in some grounded fight sequences. 

Two supporting characters definitely deserve praise as well. First, there’s Muriel Dutil, who plays the elderly Dee. Looking like she could come from the cult from Mandy, we see Dee bond with Sumi and even help her out when a member of the Morad tracks our hero down by her property. The other is Khamisa Wilsher as the Frozen Girl, a girl who first had no heart and is given an instant heart translate by Sumi after she unleashes her fury on a Morad member. There is also the appearance of the Morad enforcer, the Stag-helmeted tribal warrior as she is a hulking monster is ruthless, killing anyone who gets in her way as played excellently by stunt performer and actress Kara Wooten. 

Polaris is this generation’s Pathfinder with exciting stunts and action, some crazy bloodletting, and some great performances from the cast. If you like films involving quests and adventures, put this one on your list.

WFG RATING: A-

Epic Pictures and Filmoption International presents a Little Dipper Films/Megafun Productions/Alyson Richards Productions film. Director: K.C. Carthew. Producers: Paul Cadieux, Kirsten Carthew, Max Fraser, and Alyson Richards. Writer: K.C. Carthew. Cinematography: David Schuurman. Editing: Geoff Klein.

Cast: Viva Lee, Khamisa Wilsher, Muriel Dutil, Kara Wooten.