“Good One” - Film Review
This review was originally posted on Film Obsessive.
The great outdoors are a place for reflection and contemplation. People seek nature as a means of finding themselves when the daily grind becomes too much. It’s also a unique type of isolation to be alone in the woods with someone. It’s very quiet out there, and the weight of what needs to be said can feel stifling. Good One almost exclusively takes place on a weekend hiking trip in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. At first, the film seems like it’s going to be an odd couple-esque road movie, but it quietly and unsettlingly morphs into something different. Something sinister, but no horror movie demon or spirit ever makes an appearance. Good One’s transformation is all too familiar to the young women watching.
Sam (Lily Collias of Palm Trees and Power Lines) is seventeen and awaiting what college has in store for her. Over a weekend in the summer, Sam is going on a hiking trip with her father, Chris (Foxhole‘s James Le Gros), and his longtime best friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy, recently of The Exorcist: Believer). They’re an odd trio that should have been a quartet, but Matt’s son refused to go on the trip. Now, Sam is spending three days in the Catskills, acting as a referee of sorts between the egos of men much older than her. The longer they spend together, the more Sam realizes this might not be the peaceful weekend she’d hoped for.
James LeGros in Good One. Image courtesy of Metrograph
Perhaps the most marvelous aspect of Good One is Collias’ quiet performance as the “good” daughter who is smart, funny, quick on her feet, and perceptive. She silently watches her father’s interactions with Matt. How their teasing words sometimes feel more like direct shots and what her role is in this trio. Does she stand by her father? Or is her father out of line? In each of these men’s perceptions, Sam is older than she actually is. Instead of her character being the stereotypical precocious young person embedded in the drama of adults, Collias was given the challenge of making her grounded – both consumed by the overly confident essence of her teenage years and deeply reserved because of what she’s seen in her own parents’ relationship. With this performance, Collias has announced herself as one to watch.
It can be strange for a child to spend time with one of their parents and someone who knew them long before they were a father or a mother. For kids and teenagers, it’s hard to picture a parent as anything more than a caretaker, as someone who changed diapers, cleaned bottles, and scheduled school drop-offs. Matt is Chris’ oldest friend, and he has more stories about her father than Sam may ever have the time to hear. It’s an odd predicament to be in. To be the visible, tangible reminder to both Matt and Chris that they aren’t young anymore. Sam spends most of her time observing the way these men talk to each other and recount stories from their youth. It’s in this observation, and the audience’s observation, that Good One begins to morph. It’s all fun and games…until it isn’t.
Lily Collias in Good One. Image courtesy of Metrograph
Throughout the film, Sam is referred to as a “good one.” It’s a term thrown around by parents that’s meant to compliment someone’s nurturing abilities. In this case, Sam’s reserved, easygoing nature is from her father’s parenting, but it’s a defense mechanism. She’s found that it’s easier to go with the flow than rock the boat, and some people in positions of power will use that to their advantage. Good One’s third act changes the understanding of the first two-thirds of the film. Something happens in the forest between these three central characters that upends all their relationships. A lesser version of this film would have made this incident louder or exaggerated for the sake of making sure the point gets across, but Good One values the effort of observation. Not everything that fundamentally changes a person’s life is a big, noticeable event to everyone. Sometimes it’s the smallest, under-the-radar comments that we carry forever. These moments can add weight to the proverbial backpack we all carry around with us. Eventually, the weight of enough of those small comments can bury us.
Good One is the feature debut of writer/director India Donaldson after a trio of short films dating back to 2018. She creates a hazy, warm world in the opening moments of the film that lulls the audience into a pseudo sense of comfort. As the characters wind their way through the trails of the Catskills, Donaldson unwinds her perfectly plotted story. Good One is a series of acerbic character studies that play out over the course of a weekend, each impacting the other to create a fully developed experience for the audience.
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