Good One movie storyline. On a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills, 17-year-old Sam contends with the competing egos of her father and his oldest friend. As teenagers go — and let us allow for some hormonal leeway here — 17-year-old Sam is what most would call a good one: smart, thoughtful, grounded, self-sufficient but not averse to advice, the kind of kid that parents can’t help bragging about, as their friends wish their own nightmare offspring were a little more like her. But such a reputation has its downside, as elders take the teen’s compliance and good humor for granted, and expect undue allowances for their own irresponsibilities.
India Donaldson’s intimate feature debut deploys a deceptively simple narrative imbued with poetry and humor to wrestle with weighty truths about teenage girlhood. Capturing the pristine serenity of the natural beauty of the film’s setting via Wilson Cameron’s delicate cinematography, Good One artfully crystallizes how the men’s competitive friction overtakes Sam’s experience of even the most tranquil landscape.
As her father’s paternalistic focus on his wayward friend leaves little space for Sam, Lily Collias crisply conveys her character’s discomfort and changing estimation of their relationship through subtle shifts in expression and body language, allowing the audience to consider alongside her the cost of her obedience. As Chris and Matt, James Le Gros and Danny McCarthy inject the film with tension and uneasy humor, providing context and atmosphere in support of Donaldson’s intricate exploration of the lessons Sam learns.
Good One is an 2024 American drama film, written, directed, and produced by India Donaldson in her directorial debut. It stars Lily Collias, James Le Gros and Danny McCarthy. The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2024. In February 2024, Metrograph Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film, their first acquisition since expanding into theatrical distribution of films. It also screened at New Directors/New Films Festival on April 4, 2024. and will screen at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight section. It is scheduled to be released on August 9, 2024.
Film Review for Good One
A slight but sensitive and fantastically assured debut that unfolds with the pointillistic detail of a great short story, India Donaldson’s “Good One” is a coming-of-age story that jettisons all of the genre’s most familiar trappings in favor of a long walk in the woods.
There were supposed to be four people on the upstate New York camping trip, but one of the teens dropped out because he didn’t want to spend one of their last pre-college weekends sleeping in a polyester tent with his dad. That leaves anxious divorcee Chris (character actor James Le Gros, feasting on a nuanced leading role), his avuncular best friend Matt (Danny McCarthy, playing a character actor who would kill for a part this good), and Chris’ queer 17-year-old daughter Sam (extraordinary newcomer Lily Collias), who dutifully comes along because she’s always seen it as her job to keep what little peace is left in her family.
To not be a burden. To make her parents feel like they still know her, even if they’ve been too busy dealing with their own shit to recognize the young woman she’s in the process of becoming. By the time Sam and her two large adult chaperones make it back to their car, that process will be painfully complete.
Good One (2024)
Directed by: India Donaldson
Starring: Lily Collias, James Le Gros, Danny McCarthy, Sumaya Bouhbal, Diana Irvine, Sam Lanier, McNally, Eric Yates, Peter McNally, Sarah Wilson, Becca Morrin, Julian Grady
Screenplay by: India Donaldson
Production Design by: Becca Morrin
Cinematography by: Wilson Cameron
Film Editing by: Graham Mason
Costume Design by: Nell Simon
Set Decoration by: Gordon Landenberger
Art Direction by: Nicole Boettcher
Music by: Celia Hollander
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Distributed by: Metrograph Pictures
Release Date: January 21, 2024 (Sundance), August 9, 2024 (United States)
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