India Donaldson’s tremendous debut feature Good One looks at how young people can be let down and disappointed by the adults around them when those authority figures start acting like low key adolescents. Good One is a work that nails both deadpan hilarity and stomach churning awkwardness with such a delicate touch most viewers won’t know what hit them until everything has unfolded in totality. This is intelligent filmmaking of the highest order for both adults and teenagers alike; an achingly poignant and unflinching narrative that never speaks falsely or down towards the messiness of simply being alive and present in the world.
Seventeen year old Sam (Lily Colias) is heading out for a three day hike in the Catskills with her outdoorsy father, Chris (James Le Gros), and dad’s lifelong best friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy). In typical teenage fashion, Sam would rather be doing something else, especially after Matt’s son refuses to come along for the trip. At every step of the trip, any father-daughter bonding that could be happening between Sam and Chris is constantly stymied by Matt’s inexperience with hiking and overall neediness.
For most of the early going, Good One is an easy going character study and hang out movie unfolding between a man freely falling through a messy midlife crisis, an oblivious dad, and a teenage woman who’s wiser than both of the guys put together. Had the trip just been Sam and Chris, things would be a lot different and considerably more enjoyable. Instead, they have to act like a babysitter for a grown man who repeatedly screws up and then wallows in their failure like it’s the end of the world. None of this unfolds in particularly melodramatic fashion, as Donaldson is keenly attuned to what makes each of these people tick in their own way, never forcing any of them into comedic or dramatic contrivances that don’t seem true to form.
Le Gros is a seasoned professional when it comes to playing this sort of role, and McCarthy puts in an outstanding performance as an unlikeable schlub with a lot of personal baggage, but the movie belongs to Colias and the way Donaldson uses her effortless knack for expressions. Almost all of Colias’ performance rise and falls on wordlessly reacting to what’s going on around her. The guys are going to always have their say and drone on and on about what’s bothering them, but Sam is the only person smart enough to realize that there’s plenty being left unsaid. Sam’s facial expressions and body language tell an entire story on their own, meaning that all of Colias’ spoken dialogue carries a lot more meaning, depth, and resonance, even if the lines are simple acknowledgements or rebuffs. Colias and McCarthy’s senses of timing also work perfectly with Donaldson’s delicately calibrated material.
Good One isn’t a film where one might be expecting a twist, but something happens on the characters’ excursion that completely changes the dynamic and tone of the film. While the twist is somewhat easy to telegraph if the viewer is paying attention to the performances being given, it still causes a seismic shift in how the audience views these characters. The awkwardness mounts and a lengthy section of intense silence speaks volumes. The woods that once seemed so inviting and an easy place for Sam to disappear into lose everything that felt so special. The young woman tries to be the better of the three, but these two dudes who obliviously think that they’re owed something by life yank her down to their level. It’s a wrenching turn, but one Donaldson and her leads handle expertly, simply playing things as they are and in a realistic progression.
Every year, late in the summer, there’s a gem of an indie film that comes along, gets tons of acclaim, and is always in danger of getting lost in the mire of dimming blockbusters, studio dumped tax write offs, and smaller audiences as a result of vacations and back to school shopping. This year, Good One is the little indie film that everyone should stand up and take notice of. There are few films that speak more empathetically and with such complexity about the nature of feeling disappointed across the age divide. You might want to run off to the woods or take a shower yourself once Good One is over, but it’s the kind of naturalistic work that’s impossible to shake or forget.
Good One opens in select Canadian cinemas – including TIFF Lightbox in Toronto – starting Friday, August 16, 2024.
