Leave No Trace

      Leave No Trace is about a father-daughter duo that, years ago, decided that an "off the grid" lifestyle was the best solution for them while the daughter was young. The mother passed away while the daughter, Tom, was just an infant and the father has a hard time dealing with his PTSD that resulted from his time spent in the military. He gets benefits, but he just uses them to continue his outdoors lifestyle with Tom. During a little walk, Tom is spotted by a jogger and the police are sent to find her. They eventually get caught and are forced to integrate into normal society. This proves as a challenge for both of them since the father will now have to deal with both people and his mentality while Tom will have to learn social skills.

       This movie is amazing from beginning to end. The development of these characters is incredibly well-done and the performances are amazing, especially from Thomasin Mckenzie, who plays Tom. Ben Foster is also fantastic and I hope this movie puts him a little bit more on the map. Same goes for Mckenzie. 

       This film is also notable in the fact that it's rated PG. Leave No Trace has somewhat sparked a conversation about adult PG films and the necessity for R ratings to get people to buy tickets. I'm not saying that R films are bad. They certainly offer more room for artistic freedom and I will be an advocate until the end, but this movie shows that the quality of your movie relies on few things such as development, execution, etc. The story of this movie seems like it would've been more realistic had it had an R rating, but again, the tone and execution are amazing and are some of the movies best qualities. 

       The few things I had wrong with this movie are somewhat nitpicky. I think they could've delved a little bit more into the mindset of Ben Foster's character because his military background isn't spoken about that much and his life before and after his wife's death is barely touched on, if at all. The story works and focuses more on the PTSD aspect of it, but having a bit more backstory would've been helpful. Also, I'm not sure if it's explicitly stated how long the two have been living in the woods. It's explained that the father had taught her all her schooling, even going as far as saying she's ahead of where she is supposed to be, so that gives us an idea, but the time period spent in the forest is kept rather vague. This next one isn't something I had a problem with, but I noticed that the movie never really sectioned itself. Instead of having a clear indication of where each act starts, the movie instead feels like one 2 hour long act. I think it's because of this that some audiences have labeled the movie as uneventful, but I didn't mind it, personally.
       Overall, I absolutely loved this movie. It's a great story that asks you to define for yourself what 'home' is. Is home a place or is it defined by a certain type of environment? I think the most important message this movie conveys is that building a home for yourself means surrounding yourself in an environment where you can thrive as an individual. For Tom, the idea of "home' is equated to safety and security which she obtains from her dad, but as the story goes along she starts to wonder if maybe being "off the grid" is what she wants. 9.9/10