Delicate and Powerful, ‘Good One’ Is One of the Year’s Indie Breakouts

A 17-year-old’s perception of her father is forever altered on a three-day backpacking trip in India Donaldson’s excellent debut Good One, in theaters Friday.

Something happens. And then something doesn’t happen. But that’s more of the tear point on the already delicate fabric of a relationship that has been deteriorating from neglect for years.

The trip to the Catskills was envisioned as a joint family trip. Chris (James Le Gros) and his daughter Sam (newcomer Lily Collias) planned to go with Chris’s old friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) and his teenage son. But when they pull up to Matt’s place, there’s an argument taking place between the father and son, who retreats to the apartment as Matt stomps to Chris’ car. The teenage son is no longer joining them.

Donaldson focuses her camera on Sam, whose face and deeply expressive eyes tell you everything you need to know: This is weird and it doesn’t feel right. Suddenly she’s on a boys trip with a pair of sad middle aged men who have known one another for decades and whose lives haven’t worked out the way they thought. Both are divorced. Chris has moved on and has a new baby. Matt is still in the early stages of having his life upended. And, boy, do they talk about their failed relationships, one of whom is obviously Sam’s mother. “I couldn’t make her happy.” “She was the one who started doing things first.” “I didn’t want to get divorced.”

All of the acting is terrific and so naturalistic that it’s easy to forget that these are actors performing lines that they’ve memorized in front of a camera. Le Gros as the fastidious super camper, who freaks out about his daughter’s safety from bears when he discovers that Matt was eating in his tent, but does little later on; And McCarthy as a failed actor and now failed husband who can be charming and fun but is mostly annoying and gross. But the real breakout is Collias. Her face and presence, empathetic and knowing, carries the whole film in an unforgettable depiction of modern girlhood with all of the dreaminess, awkwardness and boredom.

Donaldson, like Kelly Reichardt, has a keen eye for the smallest of details; A reaction, a wince, even a blank expression that says everything. She also knows when to turn away from the dialogue and the people and give the audience a nature break. One of many great decisions was to have Sam on her period during the trip, something she deals with silently behind trees and bushes as the guys wait impatiently.

At one point the guys are dreaming about what they’d do differently if they had a second chance at life. Matt would be a philosopher. Chris would own a bookstore. What about Sam, they ask. She responds that hopefully she still has a shot at deciding on this life. Indeed.

These stakes might seem comparatively small in a movie landscape of deadly tornadoes, apocalypses and multiverses colliding. But that’s what makes it so special. It is humanity, with all of its beauties and disappointments, as most of us experience it. And it’s one that will likely stay with you for some time.

‘Good One’ is screening at San Francisco’s AMC Kabuki 8 Theater (1881 Post St.) on Aug. 16 and 17, 2024.