Leave No Trace (Mini Review)

Brandon Thompson
Aug 31, 2018
2 min read

Fuck Black Panther. How is everyone talking about a generic superhero movie being nominated for best picture but not the most humanistic American film of the year. Seriously, fuck Black Panther. Enough shitting on a shit movie. Leave No Trace offers a more compassionate take on human drama in a story form. Where most extravagant drama films fabricate conflict to create drama, Granik looks to the heart of the relationship of the protagonists. This means the film isn't voyeuristic. Our characters live on the edge of society and any filmmaker can exploit this to create drama. Captain Fantastic is a recent example compared to this film. As an audience we're trusted to listen to their story and invest ourselves. There is no attempt of over-sentimentality here. Both Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie bring an emotional intelligence to their roles that doesn't allow for Gebnik's work behind the camera to be undone. A shared understanding of not only their own characters but each other's gives us a more compelling on screen relationship. There are no yelling matches to be found here. Rather the film is guided by the mid ground that represents the differences between the pair. This kind of narrative drive and conflict is rarely seen in American films but it shouldn't be the case. The only real flaw I felt in the film was the stylistic choices of some scenes. It often felt like the scenes we were simply allowed to view the world through the characters eyes were from a Malick film. I've never had a problem with this style of filmmaking but when contrasted with the drama it felt somewhat jarring, even if it did blend together well. The other scenes in the movie had an undeniable feminine touch that is almost impossible to replicate as a male director and hard to find by women directors because there aren't too many out there. This style is inherently more compassionate. The way Foster's PTSD is conveyed doesn't capitalise on it in a way that almost seems to glorify it. It's also triggered by one sound consistently making for a more efficient proceeding to expressing character. Also, not really a flaw but just personal tastes, I wish religion played a bigger role. It seemed like it was going to at one point and it didn't. This is all personal tastes, especially because most of favourite films have religious over and undertones to them. Debra Granik’s film is undeniably empathetic and understated. This could be the reason it's not gaining the buzz most films of this calibre do but you can change that by going to the cinema and paying to see this film.