The cringe and beauty of adolescence: Indigenous filmmaker goes back to the ’90s for her Crave comedy ‘Don’t Even’

High school graduation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
At least, that’s the case for new grad Violet, who’s desperate to make the most of her summer following a humiliating valedictorian speech.
With bestie Harley in tow, Violet vows to make the waning days of her adolescence count before she embarks on an uncertain future. Of course, there will be stumbling blocks along the way — but hey, isn’t that the magic of growing up?
That’s the premise of “Don’t Even,” a new Indigenous coming-of-age comedy that starts streaming on Crave on Friday. Set in Winnipeg in the late ’90s, “Don’t Even” is the brainchild of Anishininew comedian and filmmaker Amber-Sekowan Daniels.
Directed by “Little Bird” alum Zoe Leigh Hopkins, who is Heiltsuk and Mohawk, the half-hour comedy offers a loving, candid look at the friendship between Violet and Harley (played by newcomers Leenah Robinson and Victoria Gwendoline), and features a surprising number of beauty shots of downtown Winnipeg and its surroundings.
“It’s surreal that it’s finally getting released,” said Daniels in an interview. “This show was picked up almost immediately; it happened really quickly. Within a couple of months of my pitch, we were in prep and writing.”
Much of “Don’t Even” pulls from Daniels’ life story — “a lot of the show is personal, because coming-of-age stories are often very universal,” she said.
But what Daniels says makes the show unique is its focus on laughter, which is apparent almost from the pilot’s first frame. Daniels’ writing, almost Bo Burnham-esque in its pacing and candour, embraces the cringe and the beauty of late adolescence, offering audiences a chance to laugh with — and not necessarily at — Violet and Harley.
“I want to see layered characters, layered young Indigenous women,” she said. “I wanted to see some complex stuff and some silly stuff, and make a stew of it. I really wanted to see a large depth of character for young Indigenous women.”
Hopkins agreed that comedy had to be at the centre of the “Don’t Even” creative process. “It was really fun and really challenging,” she said. “We went from heartfelt to raucous comedy sometimes in a single episode. So it was really awesome to be able to capture the journey of these girls.
“And having lived through the ’90s as a teen myself, I definitely saw pieces of me in this story,” she continued. “It was great to get to check back into that part of my life.”
Visually, the series has a nostalgic haze to it: it sometimes feels as if you’re watching the show through the gauze of your own memory. Hopkins says that dreamy quality is intentional.
“I come from indie film vibes and this show really lent itself well to my style,” she said. “I was able to be free with the camera and move around, which is great when you’re working with young actors. I think the show looks and feels like an independent film when you watch it, and I think that’s so perfect for this show and this story and this era. It really vibed well with the things I’ve loved making in the past.”
Daniels says the show’s setting is paramount to its depiction of Violet and Harley. Without the ’90s of it all, she said, she’d be telling a different, less sentimental story about young women.
“I’d be starting a different conversation if the show were set now,” she said. “I’ve been feeling nostalgic, especially with some of the fashion that’s coming back. Winnipeg is a city that hasn’t changed a lot, so it was really easy to visually capture that same quality I remembered.
“But there was always this question for me of, ‘Why does this have to be a period piece?’” she continued. “And for me, it was just such a cool texture. The ’90s are a cool time to play in. There was a freedom we had. There were no cellphones — you maybe had a pager if you were, like, really fancy. There’s a little bit of danger that comes with being out in the world when you’re not immediately connected to a phone.”
Daniels credits Hopkins with finding the perfect balance between comedy and moody high drama, a middle ground that makes “Don’t Even” stand out from the crowd of teenage sitcoms.
“I’ve worked in comedy for a long time,” she said, “and I knew Zoe could push the visuals and put those skills together. That was the most exciting to watch — it was really cool to figure out our specific tone between really big comedy moments and some of these subtler, weirder moments. Somehow, Zoe made it seem cohesive.”
For Daniels, the gratification of “Don’t Even” is the chance to show Indigenous characters who don’t fall into established tropes.
“I wanted to show complex characters as people,” she said. “Their wants, their needs, their complications. I’m not afraid to show someone making mistakes …
“I wanted to let these characters be able to find their own way and find their own path, and do that in a funny, hilarious and awkward way,” she said. “Because, yeah, that’s what growing up is.”
“Don’t Even” debuts Aug. 23 on Crave.