Good One
Lily Collias is a revelation in India Donaldson’s impressive first feature, the tale of a father and daughter backpacking in the Catskills.
Lily Collias
Image courtesy of Conic.
Although it reminds one of other films and other filmmakers India Donaldson's feature debut, Good One, is a work of unusual interest in its own right. Donaldson, the daughter of director Roger Donaldson, has previously made three short films and each time has provided her own screenplay. For some years she lived in New York and she has set her feature film in that state’s Catskill Mountains. The narrative unfolds over the course of a weekend backpacking trip undertaken by two friends now in middle age, Chris (James Le Gros) and Matt (Danny McCarthy). The plan had been that these two would be joined by their teenage children but Matt’s son, Dylan (Julian Grady), backs out at the last moment so it is only Sam (Lily Collias) who will complete the party. Sam is seventeen and in a lesbian relationship that is known to and accepted by Chris.
Other critics seeking a relevant comparison have referred to the films of Kelly Reichardt. That seems fair enough for there is something of a minimalistic element in Good One and the film’s unhurried pace does match that often adopted by Reichardt who herself once made a feature film about two male friends taking time out in a mountain setting (Old Joy, 2006). In this instance, however, while other subsidiary figures appear briefly including Sam's girlfriend (Sumaya Bouhal), we have a work which despite being focused on its central trio is at heart a study of Sam's feelings about her father. It will lead to a moment that is crucial as to how Sam will regard her father in future but there is little here by way of a conventional plot. Instead, we accompany the trio who reach the Catskills by car and then set out with the necessary equipment including tents for them to explore and enjoy the scenery. Sam quickly falls into the role of cooking and looking after the men who take this chance to confide their thoughts and woes to each other.
Matt emerges as a man with a decidedly uncertain future. His marriage has broken down and, although he had at one time had some success as an actor in a TV series, his career has virtually petered out. Furthermore, his son's refusal to join them suggests problems in that relationship too. As for Chris, he also has ended up divorced and is no longer with Sam's mother, but in his case he has remarried and has become a father again. In contrast to Matt, Chris would like to think that he has been lucky in that he can regard Sam as a good daughter. However, we are soon aware that Chris likes to take charge and this controlling element seen in his attitude towards Matt is hardly a characteristic to win approval from a modern teenager. If asked about his relationship with Sam, Chris would undoubtedly say that they were fond of each other, yet as the film proceeds we realise that Chris is lacking in sensitivity. It's a failing which makes his relationships relatively superficial as becomes apparent when quite late on in the film Sam points out that he has taken all this time to ask if there are any issues on her mind which she might want to discuss.
There is a brief episode which finds the trio joined overnight by three youths on a trip of their own but the first two-thirds of Good One puts its trust in two elements. One is the film’s deep feeling for the location as expressed through both Donaldson’s eye and the photography of Wilson Cameron. The other lies in the excellent performances of the three leads who make the most of their well-written roles. The dialogue is not without humour and captures the contrasted characters of the trio and not least the way in which Sam has a quiet wisdom of her own, evidence of somebody who although young has already acquired her own individuality. James Le Gros and Danny McCarthy are not to be faulted, but the revelation here lies in the performance of Lily Collias. Good One marks her second appearance in a feature film but apparently the first was a subsidiary role whereas here the whole film pivots on her. Only rarely does one come across an actress able to inhabit a role so totally that she seems to become the character and expresses everything about her from the inside but that is what Lily Collias achieves.
India Donaldson has given us a relaxed work which sensibly lasts no more than ninety minutes and the well-observed first hour or so attain a naturalism of observation which, regardless of the very different setting, reminds one of the work of Mike Leigh. But, despite the evident quality of it, I do wonder if the film needs just a little bit more by way of a plot. I found myself thinking of another film about a father/daughter relationship set largely outdoors, Debra Granik’s wonderful Leave No Trace (2018), also a work with a great performance by a young actress, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie. That film had an extra charge to its storyline that is lacking here and, while Donaldson’s piece is engaging from the start, it feels relatively lightweight during its first half. Thereafter, while continuing to eschew anything too melodramatic, Good One does incorporate a very well-judged night-time scene that has impact and ultimately we are made aware of that incident which looks small and unimportant to Chris and Matt but which marks a turning point in how Sam will view her father. This is the key moment in the film and it provides one more comparison. Ozu’s silent film I Was Born, But… (1932) has always struck me as the most perceptive film about childhood ever made and it comes to pivot on a small incident that alters the way in which two young brothers will forever afterwards regard their father. To an extraordinary degree, India Donaldson's film echoes it in pinpointing a moment which to others seems insignificant but which can be crucial in the life of any person who takes it to heart. This gives her film a quiet but impressive climax and, if less than a masterpiece, Good One is a remarkable piece which deserves to be sought out.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Lily Collias, James Le Gros, Danny McCarthy, Sumaya Bouhal, Sam Lamier, Eric Yates, Peter McNally, Diana Irvine, Valentine Black, Julian Grady, Becca Morrin, Sarah Wilson.
Dir India Donaldson, Pro Graham Mason, Diana Irvine, William Cameron and India Donaldson, Screenplay India Donaldson, Ph William Cameron, Pro Des Becca Morrin, Ed Graham Mason, Music Celia Hollander, Costumes Nell Simon.
International Pigeon/Smudge Films/Tinygiant/Baird Street Pictures-Conic.
89 mins. USA. 2024. US Rel: 9 August 2024. UK Rel: 16 May 2025. Cert. 15.
