Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Review

July 6, 2018 (updated July 6, 2018)

Good Heroes come in small, ant-sized Packages. That is the lesson that Marvel taught the world in 2015. When another member of the Marvel Superhero family is introduced, the world takes notice. Especially when the new character is a little bit off the beaten track. “Ant-Man” was a big success, and did not reflect its minimal-sized name. For a lower-tiered Hero, Ant-Man got the bigger jobs done (especially at the Box Office)

In the first movie, many characters were introduced and became a vital part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) had become ‘Ant-Man’ with the help of a ‘Quantum-shifting’ suit developed by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Pym is working with his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Pym is missing his wife, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). She had worked with the scientist when he developed his size-shifting suit that made him the original ‘Ant-Man’ and his wife the original ‘Wasp’.

Scott is under house arrest (due to what happened at the airport in Germany – see ‘Captain America: Civil War’ for details). And Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne are on the run. His time under the watchful eye of the FBI is almost up, so the time is right that something weird should happen. Hank and Hope are working with a shady criminal named Sonny (Walton Goggins) who wants to steal the Pym technology. There is a strange woman named Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) who is dying from a massive exposure of those darn Quantum rays. But it gives her ability to ‘phase-shift’ right through walls and such.

Sonny has a bunch of low-life thugs to help him. Ghost has Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), who is a Physics professor and old friend of Pym’s. But Forster is now turned away from Pym and wants to bring him in. Scott Lang has help from Hank and Pym, but also from his good friend Luis (Michael Peña), who is an ex-con like Scott, but is now in charge of a start-up security company.

The only one not helping is Janet Van Dyne, because for over thirty years she has been trapped in the ‘Quantum Realm’. This is a sub-atomic level world that Scott Lang briefly encountered in the first movie. Scott has been there, and could help Hank Pym find his wife. Hope will get also help because she wants her mother back. Bill Foster has decided that the Quantum Realm visit that Hank Pym is going to make might bring back enough Quantum Healing crystals to heal the Ghost and make her normal.

So everyone is on the run, from the FBI, from the low-down thugs, from the Ghost and from anything that that would make the movie boring. Scott Lang becomes Ant-Man again, and Hope van Dyne becomes the Wasp. They fight to free Janet from her Quantum prison and to beat the bad guys who only want to use the technology in the wrong way. There are great hand-to-hand battles, with Ant-Man shrinking and expanding and the Wasp able to use her suit to fly right into a flight.

The movie on a whole takes a welcome break from the normal Marvel fare. That means that not every movie needs to have an ultimate villain ready to snap his fingers and end the world. It’s also good to have a Superhero who is humble enough that he can become as small as an ant. The fights are fun to watch, when they use all the special abilities to win. There are even great car chases that go through ‘The Streets of San Francisco’. That is something that Michael Douglas knows very well.

Perhaps with a name like ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’, audiences will assume that this is not a fun adventure movie. Those people would be wrong, because this ‘Ant’ has earned a place at the Marvel picnic.

The First Purge Movie Review

July 4, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018)

This action/horror franchise, produced by horror master producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse, was started in June of 2013 with ‘The Purge.’ We next saw it in appear in July of 2014 with ‘The Purge: Anarchy.’ Two years later, the third in the series, ‘The Purge: Election Year’ frightened us again. The first film, starring Ethan Hawke, took us to the year 2022 where the Sandin family is struggling to stay alive as masked strangers penetrate the safety of their home. The intruders are threatening to kill them because the Sandins helped someone the intruders had the intention of slaughtering on purge night. It’s legal to kill for twelve hours during ‘The Purge’ and they have every right to kill this person. This legal murder is the constant in each of the films.

This concept was fresh, and the movie grossed 86 million dollars more than it took to make. The films continue to make more money than what they cost to make. The total budget for the four films has been 35 million and the first three have already brought in 319.8 million. If they continue to be a success, Blumhouse will keep churning them out.

This fourth narrative ‘The First Purge’ is the origin story. It’s about how it all got started. The writer of all four films, James DeMonaco, came up with a demented idea with this. It’s a bit disconcerting to think that the American people would be fine with their government offering them the chance to murder and they’d accept it… and then actually follow through. This film opening on Independence Day of 2018 seems calculated. This storyline is even more politically motivated than the others. I say this as there is what appears to be a hard to hide direct message to Donald Trump himself. This happens when a woman screams a particular line out to a man who is grabbing her crotch. I’ll let your mind wander as to what that line might be. The poster for the film shows a bright red hat with white stitching to mirror the image of Trump’s MAGA hats so, the message to the Trump administrations isn’t subtle. Don’t fear though. It won’t be so in your face that it won’t make sense or make you uncomfortable. Everything in the film will advance the storyline. As I mentioned, the government conceives of a way to off poor minorities without lifting a finger… by allowing them to legally do each other in themselves. Watching this in 2018 while living in the United States might make you wiggle in your seat a little more than you might have with the previous films because you can see where this could become our reality. Okay, probably not. Well… let’s hope not. The political landscape is crazy right now and the franchise took full advantage of that in every conceivable way.

The old political parties are replaced by the NRA supported ‘New Founding Fathers of America’ or the NFFA who are very white and want only the rich and the white to survive. They start an experiment of death with a $5,000 monetary incentive for those who stay on Staten Island and participate. The national debt has tripled and with this purge, they will have fewer Americans to cover which means more tax dollars to go into their pockets. Protests erupt with one of the main characters, Nya (Davis), screaming out against incentivizing the murder of black people but the poorer of the community, including her younger brother Isaiah (Wade), knows that the $5,000 they’re being offered can mean the difference between life and death for the rest of the year. Having a beef with a drugged out lunatic named Skeletor (Paul) he’d like to settle, and without his sisters’ knowledge, Isaiah participates in the purge. However, unable to find Skeletor, he finds a purge party instead.

When they picked Staten Island as a launching point, the behavioral scientist or ‘The Architect’ of it all, named Dr. Updale (Tomei), is certain that the people living in the boroughs would willingly partake. Since everyone was offered more money the more they engaged, she is more than surprised when the strong bonds of the community prove her wrong. With almost only Skeletor being the exception, people are not only not active but they’re dancing. This isn’t good for the government and turns out not to be too good for Dr. Updale either. When the residents show that the experiment wasn’t a success, it’s time for the government to make it look like it was by any means necessary so they send in their own people to fix the problem.

Through the night, we meet several more strong characters, chief among them, Dmitri (Noel) a drug kingpin who ends up losing his crew, not to ‘purgers’ but to gunmen for hire. The love of his life, Nya, is in danger and he’s out to rescue her and several others. When he does, there are powerful scenes that symbolize race relations in America. White supremacists and members of the KKK move floor to floor of the public housing project building Nya is holed up in, executing everything that moves. The lighting and camera work in this particular scene is the most entertaining of the film and will have you riveted.

There are several reasons to see this. If you’re a fan of the genre or of what Blumhouse Productions offers, you won’t be disappointed. The clear message to ‘never give up’ that is reiterated in several scenes and by almost everyone the government has taken for granted, should be witnessed. FYI, it’s stated at the end that it’s over but then someone says, ‘For now.’ You know what that means so if you’ve seen one, you might want to just keep going and seeing this on the Fourth of July? Why not?!

BOY ERASED and ON THE BASIS OF SEX Release Date Announcements

July 2, 2018 (updated July 2, 2018)

Focus Features will release Anonymous Content’s BOY ERASED on November 2, 2018 (limited), moving off of September 28, and Participant Media’s ON THE BASIS OF SEX on December 25, 2018 (limited), moving off of November 9, both in North America.

About BOY ERASED:

Academy Award^®nominee Lucas Hedges (Manchester By the Sea) stars alongside Academy Award^®winners Nicole Kidman (“Big Little Lies”, The Hours) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) in Anonymous Content’s BOY ERASED. Joel Edgerton (The Gift, Loving) directs, writes, produces and co-stars in the emotional coming-of-age and coming out drama about a young man’s journey to self-acceptance.

BOY ERASEDtells the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.

Edgerton produces alongside Anonymous Content’s Kerry Kohansky-Roberts and Steve Golin, an Academy Award-winning producer of Best Picture Oscar winner Spotlight. Troye Sivan, Xavier Dolan, Cherry Jones, Michael “Flea” Balzary, Joe Alwyn, Emily Hinkler, Jesse LaTourette, David Joseph Craig, Théodore Pellerin, Madelyn Cline, and Britton Sear co-star. BOY ERASED will be released by Focus Features.

About ON THE BASIS OF SEX

Academy Award^® nominee Felicity Jones stars in ON THE BASIS OF SEX, the inspiring and spirited true story that follows young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century of gender discrimination. The feature will premiere in 2018 in line with Justice Ginsburg’s 25^thanniversary on the Supreme Court.

For ON THE BASIS OF SEX, Jones is joined by co-stars Armie Hammer as Marty Ginsburg, Justin Theroux, Academy Award^® winner Kathy Bates, Academy Award^® nominee Sam Waterston, Jack Reynor, and Cailee Spaeny. Mimi Leder (Deep Impact, “The Leftovers”) directs with Robert Cort producing a screenplay written by Daniel Stiepleman. ON THE BASIS OF SEXwill be released by Focus Features.

EVIL RESURFACES IN DERRY AS CAMERAS ROLL ON NEW LINE CINEMA’S “IT CHAPTER TWO”

July 2, 2018

BURBANK, CA, July 2, 2018 – Principal photography has begun on New Line Cinema’s “IT CHAPTER TWO,” director Andy Muschietti’s follow-up to 2017’s critically acclaimed and massive worldwide box office hit “IT,” which grossed over $700 million globally. Both redefining and transcending the genre, “IT” became part of the cultural zeitgeist as well as the highest-grossing horror film of all time.

Because every 27 years evil revisits the town of Derry, Maine, “IT CHAPTER TWO” brings the characters—who’ve long since gone their separate ways—back together as adults, nearly three decades after the events of the first film. Bill Skarsgård returns in the seminal role of Pennywise. James McAvoy (“Split,” upcoming “Glass”) stars as Bill, Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Mama”) as Beverly, Bill Hader (HBO’s “Barry,” “The Skeleton Twins”) as Richie, Isaiah Mustafa (TV’s “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments”) as Mike, Jay Ryan (TV’s “Mary Kills People”) as Ben, James Ransone (HBO’s “The Wire”) as Eddie, and Andy Bean (“Allegiant,” Starz’ “Power”) as Stanley.

Reprising their roles as the original members of the Losers Club are Jaeden Lieberher as Bill, Wyatt Oleff as Stanley, Sophia Lillis as Beverly, Finn Wolfhard as Richie, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben, Chosen Jacobs as Mike, and Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie.

Muschietti directs from a screenplay by Gary Dauberman (“IT,” “Annabelle: Creation”) based on the novel by Stephen King. Barbara Muschietti, Dan Lin and Roy Lee are producing the film. Marty Ewing, Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg are the executive producers.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Checco Varese (“The 33”), Oscar-winning production designer Paul D. Austerberry (“The Shape of Water”), editor Jason Ballantine (“IT,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”), and Oscar-nominated costume designer Luis Sequeira (“The Shape of Water,” “Mama”).

Production will take place in Toronto, Canada.

Set to open in theaters September 6, 2019, “IT CHAPTER TWO” is a New Line Cinema production. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Photo Caption:

(L-r) JESSICA CHASTAIN as Beverly, JAMES McAVOY as Bill, ISAIAH MUSTAFA as Mike, JAY RYAN as Ben, JAMES RANSONE as Eddie, BILL HADER as Richie and ANDY BEAN as Stanley in New Line Cinema’s horror thriller “IT CHAPTER TWO,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by Brooke Palmer

Check out these fun ‘MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN’ featurettes!

July 2, 2018 (updated July 2, 2018)

In these featurettes, Meryl Streep discusses how Lily James stepped into the role as Donna, and the cast and crew talk about their favorite Cher-able moment!

Get ready to sing and dance, laugh and love all over again.

Ten years after Mamma Mia! The Movie grossed more than $600 million around the world, you are invited to return to the magical Greek island of Kalokairi in an all-new original musical based on the songs of ABBA. With the film’s original cast returning and new additions including Lily James (Cinderella, Baby Driver), the musical comedy will open on July 20, 2018.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, producers of the original film. Craymer is also the creator and producer of the worldwide smash-hit stage musical.

Ol Parker, writer of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, writes and directs the sequel from a story by Catherine Johnson, Richard Curtis and Parker. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus return to provide music and lyrics and serve as executive producers. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Phyllida Lloyd, Richard Curtis and Nicky Kentish Barnes also serve as executive producers.

Reprising their roles from Mamma Mia! The Movie are Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep as Donna, Julie Walters as Rosie and Christine Baranski as Tanya. Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper reunite as Sophie and Sky, while Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård and Oscar® winner Colin Firth return to play Sophie’s three possible dads: Sam, Bill and Harry.

As the film goes back and forth in time to show how relationships forged in the past resonate in the present, James will play the role of Young Donna. Filling the roles of Young Rosie and Young Tanya are Alexa Davies (A Brilliant Young Mind) and Jessica Keenan Wynn (Broadway’s Beautiful). Young Sam will be played by Jeremy Irvine (War Horse), while Young Bill is Josh Dylan (Allied) and Young Harry is Hugh Skinner (Kill Your Friends). www.mammamiamovie.com

Genre: Musical Comedy

Cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Lily James, Josh Dylan, Hugh Skinner, Jeremy Irvine, Alexa Davies, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Andy Garcia and Cher

Directed by: Ol Parker

Screenplay by: Ol Parker

Story by: Catherine Johnson, Richard Curtis, Ol Parker

Produced by: Judy Craymer, Gary Goetzman

Executive Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Phyllida Lloyd, Richard Curtis, Nicky Kentish Barnes

MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN – In Theaters July 20

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #MammaMia2

Alpha – Trailer

July 2, 2018

Mankind meets man’s best friend.

An epic adventure set in the last Ice Age, ALPHA tells a fascinating, visually stunning story that shines a light on the origins of man’s best friend. While on his first hunt with his tribe’s most elite group, a young man is injured and must learn to survive alone in the wilderness. Reluctantly taming a lone wolf abandoned by its pack, the pair learn to rely on each other and become unlikely allies, enduring countless dangers and overwhelming odds in order to find their way home before winter arrives.

Directed By: Albert Hughes Starring: Natassia Malthe, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Leonor Varela

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In Theaters August 17th

http://www.fandango.com

‘Glass’ – The announcement we’ve all been waiting for…

June 29, 2018 (updated June 29, 2018)

GLASS

In Theaters January 18, 2019

M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout originals—2000’s Unbreakable, from Touchstone, and 2016’s Split, from Universal—in one explosive, all-new comic-book thriller: Glass.

From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast.

Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

Joining the all-star cast are Unbreakable’s Spencer Treat Clark and Charlayne Woodard, who reprise their roles as Dunn’s son and Price’s mother, as well as Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story series).

This riveting culmination of his worldwide blockbusters is produced by Shyamalan and Blumhouse Production’s Jason Blum, who also produced the writer/director’s previous two films for Universal. They produce again with Ashwin Rajan and Marc Bienstock, and Steven Schneider, who executive produces.

A Blinding Edge Pictures and Blumhouse production, Glass will be released by Universal Pictures in North America on January 18, 2019, and by Buena Vista International abroad.

Cast: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard and Sarah Paulson

Written and Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Jason Blum, Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock

Executive Producer: Steven Schneider

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‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Links, Images and New Featurette Available!

June 29, 2018 (updated June 29, 2018)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

ETHAN HUNT AND HIS IMF TEAM ARE BACK FOR THEIR BIGGEST MISSION YET

Experience Mission: Impossible – Fallout in theatres, RealD 3D and IMAX on July 27, 2018

Tickets Available Now!

SYNOPSIS

The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher M^cQuarrie returning to the helm.

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY

Christopher M^cQuarrie

PRODUCED BY

Tom Cruise, Christopher M^cQuarrie, Jake Myers, J.J. Abrams

STARRING

Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby,

Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Wes Bentley, Frederick Schmidt

www.MissionImpossible.com

#MissionImpossible

Sicario: Day of the Soldado Movie Review

June 29, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018)

The definition of the word Sicario is a hired gunman or assassin, esp. in Latin America. The film ‘Sicario,’ starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro was an incredibly powerful and violent film that took audiences by surprise. Director Denis Villeneuve, who went on to direct ‘Arrival’ and ‘Blade Runner: 2049’ didn’t direct ‘Sicario: Day of the Solado,’ which may be surprising to learn when you consider the fact that it was nominated for three Oscars. That said, it was instead directed by Stefano Sollima, who very much did carry on the dark brutality that both stories, written by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote ‘Wind River’ and ‘Hell or High Water,’ required. Not pulling punches, Sollima moves the second tale of the franchise, not quite a sequel but more of an offshoot, at an electric pace.

The film starts by showing a group of individuals being smuggled over the U.S. border from Mexico. This has turned into a substantial for-profit business for the Mexican Cartel as many of them are terrorists willing to pay big dollars. Rather than be caught, these men are prepared to and do blow themselves up if cornered. Pivotal to what’s going on in American politics today, several do the deed in a store. The last one alive is about to take his life for the cause and consequently end the lives of everyone around him, is confronted by a white woman as she begs for him to spare her and her child… thus the theme of the narrative materializes. The comparisons to today can’t be ignored.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense (Modine) hires government agent Matt Graver (Brolin) to help them seal Mexico off and make it appear as necessary to do so as possible. They want to stop the Mexican cartels once and for all. As unscrupulous and underhanded as he is, he suggests getting dirty and to make it appear as if one of the other cartels initiates the fight by attacking the other. He tells them they’re going to have to ‘kidnap a prince’ and explains that the king will start the war for you. He hires the unforgiving Alejandro (Del Toro) to help him kidnap rich, spoiled Isabela Reyes (Moner) the teenage daughter of the notorious cartel leader, Carlos Reyes. They stage everything to look like a rival gang of her fathers has her by allowing her to see pertinent information so she can relay it all back to her father. After, they set in motion a rescue. However, nothing ever goes as planned.
Day of the Solado, a word that means soldier, explores what it means to be a soldier, which is an enforcer of the rules he’s lead by, and what it means to be a man with a conscience. When Alejandro finds himself having to choose between the two, a second story emerges and helps rounds out the reasons for shootouts and the action and criminal element of the film and the more political motivation of the script.

Isabela Reyes is a character you’ll grow to abhor less as the movie winds down. Isabela Moner is an actress you’ll grow to adore as she does a fantastic job giving you what her director asks of her, but the script could have been a little more pointed as to what is expected from its audience. In fact, all the characters were hard for you to read, except for one and that’s Cynthia Foards. Played by Catherine Keener, Foards is a badass who isn’t in touch with her feelings and doesn’t care about yours, especially when it comes time to order a scene to be cleaned.

Even though it’s nothing like ‘Sicario,’ the acting in ‘Sicario: Day of the Solado’ is reason enough to see the second chapter. Oddly, it doesn’t necessarily matter which order you see them in but if you’re a fan of the genre, see them both. Also, you might be happy to learn there is a plan for number three. How it’s presented in the film will definitely leave you scratching your head… but in a good way, I promise.

Leave No Trace – Movie Review

June 29, 2018 (updated July 2, 2018)

‘Leave No Trace,’ a film based on the novel ‘My Abandonment’ by Peter Rock, which was written from a 2004 article in ‘The Oregonian’ about a girl discovered to be living in Forest Park with her father, is about a troubled veteran living illegally on public land in Portland, Oregon with his young daughter. As members of the human race, we must vow to protect this world. A member of the Armed Forces takes the ‘Oath of Enlistment,’ which states they will, Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
However, and unfortunately, what they’ve been finding when they get out of the service are promises made to them, broken without shame. Chief among those promises include that they are taken care of. Our service members are committing suicide at a rate of twenty-two per day. When they come back to their families, they’re not the same people they were when they were last home and with a VA and health care system unable to properly understand their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, they often feel alone, shattered, powerless and scared.

In ‘Leave No Trace,’ a drama filled with analogies and parallels for what the human race can do to help one another and save itself, we find that we’d get a lot of assistance from nature, as well, if we’d only be willing to let it. Director Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone) shows us many examples of this ideology being embraced by her main character, Will (Foster). Will and his daughter Tom (McKenzie) are living off the grid, on their own and surviving just fine without societies rules being imposed on them. Granik’s methodology is to start her story by taking us through their daily chores of collecting water, eggs, and mushrooms and Will teaching Tom to cover her tracks and other techniques he learned in the military.
He’s aware she can’t miss out on a proper education and teaches her everything he learned in school but living off the land is giving her a scholarship we’d all be lucky to receive. She’s being trained how to respect, properly use, appreciate and give back to the earth. Currently, they’re living in a massive park but due to a mistake made by Tom, they’re spotted.
They’re removed right away and once tested, it’s deemed Will is well enough to give his daughter a proper home. He must also put her into school to be suitably socialized. The state helps him and sets them up with a small home working on a Christmas Tree farm where he is to work to pay for rent. Immediately, he feels like a bear trapped in a cage and grows restless.

At this stage in the narrative, we’re already wondering how they’ve reached this point in their lives, especially when Tom meets a youngster her age and makes what might be her first friend. She seems so delighted and you instinctively feel happy for her, yet at the same time are heartbroken for Will. The balancing act going on at in the story keeps you highly absorbed and perplexed at the same time. You rightly empathize with their situation but Granik purposefully shoots the chopping down of beautiful budding trees and your state of mind can’t help but be manipulated by the display. This is not the schooling Will wants for Tom and not how he’s capable of living so he wakes her in the middle of the night and they’re off. She wanted to stay but as before, he can’t live under ‘their’ rules. They head north and into a situation neither are prepared for.

What comes next in their journey is uncommon, moving and impactful. Granik is spectacular at giving us the opportunity to get to know these characters and explore their world while at the same time subliminally slipping in the significance, or perhaps forewarning, that it’s our world, too.

I highly recommend this for a theatre watch as does Rotten Tomatoes, who has it ‘Certified Fresh’ with a rating of 100%.

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#LeaveNoTrace

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