Good One (2024)

Like so many small independent films, writer-director India Donaldson’s feature-length tale debuted at Sundance this year. It is a simple story of a young girl, on the cusp of adulthood, coming of age during a hike in an upstate New York park. Do not let its slow pace or subtlety lead your attention to wander.

Sam (Lily Collias) is a 17-year-old about to go off to college when summer ends. She agrees to go on a tree-day hike in the Catskills with her father Chris (James Le Gros) and his best friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy). Not exactly the dream excursion of the typical teenage girl, but her father and mother are divorced, so this will be one last time to bond with him. When father and daughter go to pick up Matt, his teenage son refuses to come, for reasons that we soon learn—Matt’s wife is divorcing him because of his infidelity, so Sam will be alone with two men on the trail.

We know from smartphone exchanges that Sam prefers her friend Jessie (Sumaya Bouhbal) to boys, but this seems to be no issue for her father. However, that relationship will become strained, even changed by this trip. This change begins when her father demands that she give up her front seat to Matt, despite her mild objection to being pushed into the backseat. Matt is a blowhard, often bickering and joking with Chris, with Lily largely ignored. We see that her father is control-obsessed when he calls out Matt for his over-packing his backpack, even going through it and casting out several items that add weight, as well as berating him for wearing constrictive jeans rather than hiking shorts. He also goes through the large food jar that either Lily or her mother has packed and rearranges its contents.

At the hostel in the park, Lily has to sleep on the floor because neither of the men thought to give up their singles-bed. On the trail it is discovered that Matt, as foolish as ever, forgot to bring his sleeping bag. Nothing spectacular happens on the trail, other than the beautiful sights—flowing streams and waterfalls, distant vista of the mountains and close-ups of flowers, colorful butterflies, and lizards and minnows. They encounter a group of college students who camp beside them the first night. In a host of horror films, they would turn out to be predators, but not here. In fact, one of them even kindly offers Matt his sleeping bag but is turned down.

The quotidian details of a hike are richly observed, Sam and her father expertly setting up their tent while Matt struggling with his, Sam eventually helping him. It is largely Sam who is left to cook the food and to clean the utensils afterward.

Sam listens to the men’s conversation, including a scary story told one night by Matt. On their last night camping something happens that changes Sam forever, and when she tells her father and his response is less than she needs, changes also her estimate of him, and thus their future relationship. Unless you have paid close attention, you might wonder why Sam is hiking alone the next day. We do not see either of the men, nor we suspect does Sam see much of the beauty she is passing by. Reaching their van, she unloads her gear and plops down beside their vehicle. The men at last arrive, with Chris upset that she had left them, but apparently oblivious to the reason she had abandoned them. Lily now realizes that she is alone, lacking the support expected from a father. If she is to prosper, she will have to become her own advocate.

Quite a subtle film, with writer India Donaldson depending very little on dialogue but very much the skill of her actors to get at the meaning of what happens on the trail. And all three actors rise to the occasion, with Lily Collias especially the standout. I suspect we will be seeing more of this marvelous young actor, able to convey so much by her face and body language as by the words of the script. She convinces us that Lily is not the same girl that she was when the trio left New York City. Although very much feminist in that it puts down its two chauvinist male characters, the film is not a blistering attack, but one in which the filmmaker leaves it to the viewer to be able to “explain” things, even echoing the ancient words, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” Let’s hope we will see more from this perceptive filmmaker who trusts the intelligence of her audience. Even the title of her film has a double meaning. It is too bad this film has been rated R because it would be a good one for a youth group to discuss. Though its slow pace might be a hard sell to those raised on superhero and action thrillers, a leader could prepare them for a rewarding experience.

This review will be in the September issue of VP along with a set of questions for reflection and/or discussion. If you have found reviews on this site helpful, please consider purchasing a subscription or individual issue in The Store.

20th Century Studios