Leave No Trace

2018’s Leave No Trace, directed by Debra Granik.

Starring Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie, Dale Dickey, Dana Millican Jeff Kober, Isaiah Stone, Art Hickman, Jeffrey Rifflard, Derek John Drescher, Michael Draper, Peter Simpson, and Erik McGlothlin.

What is it about?

Leave No Trace is based off of a true story, where a father with PTSD, Will, (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter, Tom, (Thomasin McKenzie) live in a forested national park in Oregon. Save for trips to the city for things like eggs and prescription drugs, they live a life unobstructed by society’s laws and expectations. One day a jogger comes across the duo, and before long the law and social services intervene. If they are to remain together, the pair are expected to live in an actual home, with Will working at a job, and Tom attending school. With Will having mental health issues and not having his self prescribed ecological therapy, and with the siren call of teenage garden delights for Tom calling, will they ever find happiness living in society?

Why is it worth seeing?

Leave No Trace is the third film from director/co-writer Debra Granik. Her 2010 feature, Winter’s Bone, featured a desperate protagonist on an odyssey through some of the most authentic hostile environments ever seen on film. Here, the hostile environment is the one that’s civilized- it’s the untamed wild that is nurturing. Like Bone, Trace has a knack for authenticity. Its words are few and far between, and its actions deep and profound.

It’s easy to see where Trace could have been less effective. If it wanted to veer into something resembling fish out of water comedic beats, it would be 2016's Captain Fantastic. If it wanted to do a more overt job of showcasing Foster’s character’s PTSD, this year’s You Were Never Really Here is a much more obvious (but well told) example. But Granik has too much respect for her audience, and someone who waits 8 years between Hollywood indie fiction films likely prefers quality over quantity.


It’s easy to despise society- its charms can range from non existent to noxiously toxic. But nobody in this world does. Whatever they live in it or not, they make choices- and seem to respect each other for it. While the machine of organizations force people into corners, the people populating them here, are nothing but decent. It’s probably the only flaw of the movie- that there is not a single unpleasant person who is not employed as a park ranger/law enforcement official. It’s not much of a crime- not when we’re inspired by 2 people living extraordinary lives rubbing shoulders with the salt of the earth.

While Thomasin McKenzie is no Jennifer Lawrence, she gives a solid performance as a teenager wise beyond her years- whom is a little socially awkward but seems to be as comfortable arranging kinder for a fire to cook dinner as she would be assembling a nuclear reactor. We can sense the conflict in how she sometimes needs to parent her mentally ill parent. Ben Foster is pitch perfect in his depiction of a veteran who decided that he could not live in society, who is immensely connected to his daughter but knows his demons are strong. It’s an internal performance (by one of the more dependable actors today), scraping at the bones of monosyllabic titans such as Casey Affleck in Manchester By The Sea.


Quietly strong, possessing a voice that ought to be heard, Leave No Trace is one of the year’s best films. It will make less money than it deserves, and we’ll see what the Academy Awards have in store for it come nomination time, but it left quite an impression on me. Considering the film’s title, it actually packs a wallop- to the point where it leaves a mark.

Rating:

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.