Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Foster (Image © Bleecker Street)
LEAVE NO TRACE: A
There have been many on-screen depictions of PTSD over the last few years, but none as well realized as Leave No Trace, because writer/director Debra Granik sees--correctly--the disorder as not just something that changes the perceptions of those afflicted, but completely upends the family dynamic. Ben Foster doesn’t rely on the now-familiar actor’s tropes of PTSD, but instead carries a weight that we see his daughter, newcomer Thomasin McKenzie in a brilliant performance, forced to bear. Their subtle work makes the ending, which you should have tissues on hand for, the only possible route either character can take.
Matt Guerrero, Film Editor
Leave No Trace
Starring Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie, Jeff Kober, and Dale Dickey
Written by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
Based on the novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Directed by Debra Granik
In Theaters Now