Good One

It is not easy to find such a movie in the context of independent cinema that depicts the dynamics of the family and the process of change so realistically and without pretentiousness. The film that India Donaldson directs for the first time does exactly that, giving the audience a realistic portrayal of a young woman’s development. The action of the film is set on two days of a hiking trip in the Catskills and focuses on the relations between the 17-year-old girl Sam and her father Chris and his friend from college Matt. On the surface, it is a story of a family going for a wood trip, but the generational clash, passive aggression, and the need for an individual to fight for one’s rights against the traditional values are gradually revealed, for a film that has a rather narrow plot and focuses on the significance of the interaction between characters, the audience is forced to consider their own family dynamics and the painful process of growing up. Sam’s character transformation is depicted slowly and the audience gets to experience a clear development of the character. This will be more attractive to a specific audience due how good the capture of the landscape, sound and potentially how relaxing the film can be, the downside is how these aspects could turn it into a boring but meaningful production.

The plot of the film is focused from the point of view of Sam as she is torn between the two middle-aged men whose pride and unsolved issues are the main driving force of the plot. This is an interesting aspect because Matt lost his son Dylan and he was meant to be part of the trip; Sam has to deal with this awkwardness but she proved to be mature and calm all the times, unlike the other elders who display childish tendencies over and over again.

Chris, played with complexity by James Le Gros, turns out to be a tight ass who wants to control everything on the other hand Matt, acted by Danny McCarthy, tries to cover up his weakness, the film is at its best when it comes to presenting the underlying conflicts and passive aggression of the characters' interactions mostly unresolved issues they had and are coming up during this trip. Sam, played with much charm by the newcomer Lily Collias, has to become a middleman and a confidante for the grown-ups' problems and get praise in what is rather condescending.

It is the feature directorial debut of India Donaldson who has mentioned the inspiration from real-life experiences of camping with her father. The project was initiated during the pandemic as for the first time in her life since teenage Donaldson was staying at home and could focus on her thoughts and the idea of being ‘the good one’ in a family. The production team consisted of the producers Diana Irvine, Graham Mason, and Wilson Cameron, and all of them were quite cooperative. He also said that they made the film by calling friends and asking them to make a movie together.

Wilson Cameron was the cinematographer who worked hard together with the director to achieve the look and feel of the film, a major aspect of production that can be discussed is the shooting on location especially in the Catskills area, to get the look that he wanted in the show, Cameron used an Arri Alexa Mini and Blackmagic Pocket 4K camera with Zeiss Super Speed lenses, got this information doing some digging about the production online. Some of the challenges that affected the production include ticks, thunderstorms, and even meetings with bears which were in addition to the planned scenes and this made the shooting of the movie to be for 12 days only, after all it is literally a hiking trip.

The main character is Sam, played by Lily Collias who is a relatively new talented actress, portraying the character of a 17-year-old girl. She starred in the 2022 drama film "Palm Trees and Power Lines" with Gretchen Mol. She as Sam has been compared to Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone, and Thomasin McKenzie in Leave No Trace, which proves she is one talent that the movie industry should look out for.

It is worth mentioning that James Le Gros who portrays Sam’s father Chris has been in the industry for more than three decades. Le Gros has been a prominent character in both the independent and the commercial film industry featured in "Drugstore Cowboy", "Living in Oblivion", and "Zodiac".

Completing the main cast we have Danny McCarthy who plays Matt, Chris’s best friend. McCarthy has appeared in both films and television shows such as "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", "Stronger", "Elvis & Nixon", and HBO’s "Somebody Somewhere".

Many film critics and viewers have described the movie as good and realistic, with the focus on the development of the characters’ relationships noted as the film’s strong points, as they provide a unique opportunity to dive into the characters’ personalities. Many critics have noted that Donaldson’s narrative is rather restrained; he prefers not to introduce clear conflicts, but rather potential conflicts, and mutual passive aggressive behavior that keeps building up over the film's progress to eventually climax.

Some people have complained that the movie is slow and that the plot is not very engaging, but many viewers for the same reason enjoy the absence of a fast pace and lowered tones. The slow accumulation of tension and the characters’ progression have been named as the strategies that affect the movie’s impact on the audience, probably nowadays a streaming movie rather than theater.

The main theme that has been deduced by many goes back to the struggle in the parent and child relationship as

children grow into adulthood. Sam’s story is viewed as a sensitive and dramatic experience of the time when a youth starts realizing that their parents are not perfect people, eventually thinking they can be their own independent authority.

Another major concern that critics have noted is the attempts to analyze the image of the “good child”. Sam’s character is depicted as intelligent and obedient, which are positive traits, but the movie expresses how those assets can be used by the elders negatively. The part of the story has prompted discussions about the stress due to society’s expectations and the need for youth to set boundaries even for family members.

The movie made its way through various independent film festivals such as Sundance and Cannes. It is evident that India Donaldson is a director to be recognized. Her first feature is notably praised among critics and the audience; the film is described as realistic to the point that it might look like a documentary at certain points, of a young woman’s determination to make a life of her own in the face of her complex relationship with the grown-ups who surround her.

Overall, I'm certainly this is a film I would probably enjoy the most watching with my wife. This is a very thoughtful film that is very simple without many complex scenes other than their own relationship problems that, after all, is what sometimes can make any film under any genre way more interesting and enjoyable. It is the example of how the horror genre has evolved thanks to the more psychological aspects of films nowadays instead of the classic scare jump. Drama is a big part of any movie, and Good One (2024) based on the online comments, reviews, and what I have seen so far from the trailer does look like the peak of it, trying to describe this film in a way.