Review of Leave No Trace (2018) by Teriek W — 10 Oct 2018

Debra Granik's Leave No Trace focuses on a Will and Tom, a father-and-daughter pairing, who choose to live in the isolation of a U.S. national park due to the post-traumatic stress caused by Will's service in the Iraq War. Upon being discovered by the authorities, Will and Tom are forced into a more socially-integrated social life in rural Oregon.

Similar to Granik's Winter Bone (which I did not particularly enjoy way back in 2010), Leave No Trace gives a somber view of the forgotten Middle American landscape while more importantly zeroing in on the difference between innocence and experience within that landscape. Will is a broken man who ironically after his war service chooses conscientiously object to life in modern civilization whereas Tom becomes intrigued by it.

This divide provides the film's central theme that holds a compelling interest even in light of the film's quiet, plodding art-house treatment that will test the patience of anyone who cannot bring themselves to commit to it beyond the first 25 minutes. Those who do may love the film, or like me, will not love film but appreciate the thoughts it leaves me to mediate on.