Leave No Trace (2018)

The critic lauds Granik's tender portrayal of a father and daughter living off the grid, noting its empathetic depiction of the underclasses and emotional depth as one of the year's best.

Granik is commended for refining a style of tranquil intensity with rapt, pared-down images and deep empathy. The review highlights the film's sobering vision as a respite from modern culture and its strong performances.

The critic praises Granik's empathetic and tactile direction of an off-grid father-daughter story, noting its nuanced take on autonomy versus social integration and the standout naturalistic performances, especially from newcomer Thomasin McKenzie.

The critic calls the film a reminder that the movie world is better with Debra Granik in it, praising its sensitive and honest portrayal of a father and daughter living off the grid and the exceptional performances by Ben Foster and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie. It highlights the film's emotional resonance and Granik's skill in avoiding narrative traps.

The critic calls it an absorbing, delicately directed and acted father-daughter drama full of compassion. Granik is praised for her unsentimental humanism and the strong performances of Foster and McKenzie.

The review finds the film grim yet captivating, praising its mournful tone and extraordinary acting by Foster and McKenzie. Granik is lauded for her empathy toward the characters and exploration of their relationship.

It is described as a modest but extraordinarily graceful coming-of-age story about what people need from each other. The review highlights the film's rock-solid emotional core and Granik's direction.

Granik’s complex study of an army vet and his daughter living off-grid in a public park is a careful, realistic alternative to more naive wilderness films. It balances intelligence with a sense of what is truly at stake for those rejecting conventional life.

The critic praises Granik's focus on the father and daughter's forest routines and their tense relationship with society, highlighting the strong performances especially Thomasin McKenzie's quiet strength as the daughter grows independent. The film is noted for its subtle portrayal of PTSD and for functioning as a war film without overt combat.

Granik’s subtle film follows a father and daughter who spurn convention and live off-grid, charting their clashes with authority and attempts to maintain their way of life. It is assured and irresistibly gripping, with strong performances from Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie.

The critic commends the smart, heartfelt examination of outsiderdom through subtle character building and strong performances by Foster and McKenzie in this realist drama.

The critic notes the film's profound empathy for its backwoods characters and the discovery of young talent in Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, comparing it favorably to Granik's Winter's Bone while observing its low-key nature may limit its cultural impact. It praises the visual environment and the young actress's emergence but finds the story somewhat meandering without strong hooks.

Granik’s film delivers a subtler, more rewarding trail than expected, a small but quietly powerful tender portrait of a father-daughter transition in rural America. The critic singles out the compassionate detail, Foster’s humble fragility, and especially McKenzie’s impressive, note-perfect performance as the film’s ace card.

Debra Granik’s follow-up to Winter’s Bone offers a lovely answer to themes of life beyond celebrity, centering on an ex-veteran father and daughter living off-grid whose differing desires create tension. The critic highlights the human performances, subtle script, and McKenzie’s standout talent as making the film moving and memorable.

The critic highlights the moving character drama with remarkable understatement, praising the performances and Granik's tenderness in portraying marginalized individuals.

The critic praises the subtle drama of a father and daughter's diverging paths in off-grid life, highlighting Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie's breakthrough performance and the film's understated emotional poignancy and political relevance.

The film is a subtle and enigmatic drama straddling wilderness folklore and social realism, focusing on a father and daughter living off-grid in Oregon woods. The critic praises its understatement, strong performances especially from Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, and down-to-earth approach over pretension.

Two masterclasses in minimalism from Granik’s central performers convey intense interior lives as the pair tangle with authorities and attempt to live off-grid. The lack of expression eventually becomes deadening, leading to a disappointingly muted climax.

Foster and McKenzie thoroughly convince in Granik’s hands, moulding a subtle, assured, and often powerful tale adapted from a true story-inspired novel. The critic praises McKenzie’s powerful turn worthy of comparison to Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone, noting the film’s emotional finale.

Granik returns with another tale of families living off-the-grid, turning it into a coming-of-age story about a father's inability to integrate and a daughter's desire for community. It offers the opportunity to consider rarely portrayed lifestyles with subtlety.

The film captures a rare positivity about American life and humanity through its good-natured spirit and the bond between father and daughter. Granik delivers a subtle, lovely character piece about outsiders rarely seen on screen.

The review highlights Granik's talent-spotting with the young lead and the film's warmer, more hopeful tone than Winter's Bone, commending the strong central performances and naturalistic storytelling.

The sensitive drama offers rare insight into a troubled veteran's psyche and a strained father-daughter bond, anchored by phenomenal performances from McKenzie and Foster that convey authentic emotional weight and relational depth.

The piece calls the film an exquisite, haunting tale of family and community with excellent performances from Foster and the promising McKenzie, praising its simple yet resonant ethos about faith in others.

The critic praises Granik’s restrained, observational approach in this gentle and intimate film that avoids easy dramatic targets or villains. She singles out the nuanced performance of newcomer Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie for praise while noting Ben Foster’s star presence as a slightly jarring fit.

The film is a quiet, restrained father-daughter story that builds emotional impact through naturalism and strong performances, particularly McKenzie's breakthrough turn, though it can meander and remain enigmatic.

Granik sympathetically interrogates the father's choices while exploring the daughter's coming-of-age, without making his decision morally clear-cut. The film balances character study with the challenges of minimal resources and modern life.

The film questions conventional notions of normality through its characters' off-grid life and encounters with society. It highlights the strong, humane performances of Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie in a quiet, focused story.

Granik crafts a quietly stunning, humane portrait of a PTSD-stricken veteran and his daughter navigating off-grid life versus society, with exceptional, nuanced performances from Foster and McKenzie capturing the divide between mere survival and living.