LEAVE NO TRACE

Out 5 NOVEMBER / Cert PG / 109 Mins

the idea of watching Ben Foster squatting in a bush for nearly two hours may not sound like the stuff of movie dreams. But I’m very glad I caught Leave No Trace on the big screen earlier this year. Quiet, slow-burning and utterly gripping, it’s the tale of a Ptsd-stricken combat veteran and his teenage daughter hiding away in an Oregon park to avoid contact with the rest of humanity, and is likely the most heartbreaking depiction of camping you’ll ever see. Foster is haunting as Will, a man who can only find comfort in total seclusion, and Kiwi actor thomasin Mckenzie (who previously had a small role in the final Hobbit film, The Battle Of The Five Armies) is just as believable as tom, a girl who’s never been given a chance to be normal. It may have a few too many close-ups of cobwebs and such, but its delicate mood and powerful denouement have stayed with me for months.