Good One opens with borderline control-freak New Yorker Chris (James Le Gros) bustling about, making preparations for the weekend away in the Catskills, while his daughter Sam (Lily Collias) packs for the trip, at the same time establishing the mutual intoxication between her and girlfriend Jessie (Sumaya Bouhbal). When Chris and Sam go to pick up the third member of their party, Matt (Danny McCarthy), they witness family drama on the stoop of his building. Hostile to his dad since his parents split, Matt’s teenage son Dylan (Julian Grady) refuses to come along.
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 American coming of age drama film directed by India Donaldson and starring Lily Collias, Sumaya Bouhbal, Valentine Black, Diana Irvine, James Le Gros, Danny McCarthy, Julian Grady, Becca Morrin, Sarah Wilson, Samuel Lanier, Eric Yates and Peter McNally and The Screenplay was written by India Donaldson. The film was released on August 9, 2024 in the United States by Metrograph Pictures.
Good One (2024)
Directed by: India Donaldson
Starring: Lily Collias, Sumaya Bouhbal, Valentine Black, Diana Irvine, James Le Gros, Danny McCarthy, Julian Grady, Becca Morrin, Sarah Wilson, Samuel Lanier, Eric Yates, Peter McNally
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
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Metrograph Pictures
Release Date: August 9, 2024
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