Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway /Leave No Trace

 

Debra Granik is known for her handling of outsider-themed stories. In the previous “Winter‘s Bone” Jennifer Lawrence played a young girl in the Ozark Mountains driven to discover the mystery of her father. Granik’s films are unfailingly immersive, vivid and propulsive. The director’s latest entitled “Leave No Trace” is no exception.

From the start, the landscape of the public park featured in the film appears like a gigantic green womb with two inhabitants: the widower Will (Ben Foster) and his daughter Tom (Thomasin McKenzie). Will is a veteran with PTSD and a great mistrust of authority, so much so that he cannot adapt to any mainstream situation. Will and Tom squat in a public park, scavenging for food and storing propane when they can. Within this circumstance, a routine develops. Tom is home schooled. Ben forages and runs drills in the event they are “burned” or discovered. Each day fills rapidly.

One day, the two are picked up by a K-9 unit and taken in by authorities. They are not mistreated. An older man, Mr. Walters (Jeff Kober) donates a house to the single father and case workers issue personality tests. Tom warms to the new house, but Will grows increasingly insecure. After he receives another visit from the social worker, Will tells Tom that they have to go. Will and Tom get on a bus and then hitch a ride from a reluctant truck driver.

Understandably, Tom is mystified.

When father and daughter finally happen upon a communal RV park, stability feels at hand.

While at first this film may seem stitched from the same cloth as “Captain Fantastic,” the two films are very different. For one thing, this story is no cartoon. Where the former film went for laughs, “Leave No Trace” plays it straight. There are no flamboyant sight gags, wild behaviors or funny suits. This is simply a father who intends to do the best he can under tremendous stress. Nothing is handled with broad strokes and there is no lampooning of philosophy here, only straightforward existence for a single father and daughter.

Thomasin McKenzie is excellent and Ben Foster completely inhabits his character, all while having very little dialogue. His force exists in the body, the hunch of his shoulders, his gait and the confrontation of expression.
The most vivid segments of the film take place in the RV community, showing residents eating and singing songs during an outdoor dinner gathering. This is no flat depiction. We feel the halting, jingly, but oddly soothing guitar and are plunged right next to the people onscreen. Granik is a poet of life on the fringe. Rather than entertainment, this is dynamic and vivid. Stripped of theatrics, this story feels like a record of life and it doesn’t deliver easy resolutions.

"Leave No Trace” is a story of a father and daughter who are far from unusual, forced to deal with unusual circumstances. It is another striking portrait of a family dynamic from Debra Granik that is subtly percussive, uncompromising and as authentic as it gets.

Write Ian at [email protected]
[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]