Dir. India Donaldson
2024, USA, 90 min
Rated PG
In India Donaldson’s insightful, piercing debut, 17-year-old Sam embarks
on a three-day backpacking trip in the Catskills with her dad, Chris and
his oldest friend, Matt. As the two men quickly settle into a gently
quarrelsome brotherly dynamic, airing long-held grievances, Sam, wise beyond her
years, attempts to mediate. But when lines are crossed and Sam’s trust is betrayed,
tensions reach a fever pitch, as Sam struggles with her dad’s emotional limitations
and experiences the universal moment when the parental bond is tested. Selected in
both Sundance and Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, Good One is an emotionally
expansive work that probes the limits of familial trust, understanding, and
ultimately, forgiveness.
“Subtly dark, humorous, and wise, Good One leans into its wilderness backdrop in all of its liberating (and, sometimes, paradoxically claustrophobic) properties.” – Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar
“The film instinctively and lucidly shows how sometimes a coming of age can be thrust upon a person against their will.” – Greg Nussen, Slant Magazine
“A confident work of subtlety and truth.” – Drew Gregory, Autostraddle
