An average movie

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I always had a weak spot for movies focusing on people who decide to leave off the grid and this one was not bad at all. Indeed, the green landscape was quite gorgeous, even if it constantly looked cold and wet but it was appropriate since living in the woods like this is hardly a picnic. This movie also featured some really solid performances by Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie (it was a nice surprise that McKenzie was around 18 years old and not 10 years older than her character which is very often the case with Hollywood productions). Finally, I really liked the relationship between this father and this daughter who both really understood and cared for each other. And, yet, the damned thing was still missing something to completely win me over though. I understand that they went for a streamlined minimalistic approach but, in my opinion, it actually backfired. Indeed, as far as I was concerned, it was rather frustrating that we never found out what was Will’s motivations behind his actions. I mean, it is a really drastic move to decide to cut every social contacts for your daughter, especially when you love her like he did, and I wonder why he made such choices. It was also rather bewildering that a government organization (which one? It was never clear…) would take such seemingly good care of them. There are so many homeless people in the US, why didn’t they make sure they didn’t end up in a dish if they had such sources available? Finally, for a guy who lived in the woods, Ben Foster looked too much like a guy who still had 3 meals a day but it was a minor issue though. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

6/10