Leave No Trace (2018)

I was not as enamored with Winter's Bone as many were. However there was enough impressive about it, besides rocketing Jennifer Lawrence to the A-list, that I was eager to see what writer/director Debra Granik would do next. I'm a bigger fan having seen Leave No Trace.

The title is somewhat obscure as is the approach Granik takes to her story. Yes it is one of those step-by-step narratives where the film just takes us from one moment to the next in the story, weaving the meaning, emotion, and symbolism into the tale quite organically and not stylishly. However despite this rather straight forward approach Granik's work still remains rather distant from the audience. We feel like we are just watching from the outside. The way into her characters is less through situating us in their place but letting us observe them remotely.

This has a powerful effect in Leave No Trace. Ben Foster and newcomer Thomasin McKenzie are left to communicate with us quietly. Both the characters are quiet, unassuming personas who will often say most of what they have to say with their eyes and faces instead of their mouths. We get to know them both quite well through this method which never pretends that we are going to understand them, but we do get to try.

Unlike Winter's Bone which showed us great cruelty. In Leave No Trace Will and Tom rarely face anything but kindness. It is remarkable just how generous everyone they run into is. The conflict for these two is not external, but internal. What lead to their situation is never explained. It doesn't need to be. We just find them in it and watch as they live through it.

Leave No Trace is beautiful film making and a lovely story that will break your heart.

Leave No Trace
Starring: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie
Director: Debra Granik
Writers: Anne Rosellini, Debra Granik