Leave No Trace Blu-ray Review
In a public park near Portland, Oregon, is Tom (McKenzie) and Will (Foster). The daughter and father duo aren’t simply visiting the park to take in its scenic beauty, they live there. Their tent life doesn’t seem all that weird to Tom, who learns how to forage and grow with the direction of Will. Some of the life lessons she’s learning aren’t quite as innocent though. Will teaches her an escape plan and things to do when spotted by other people who happen to mosey near their location. Along with his night terrors, it’s clear that Will has some invisible wounds.
LEAVE NO TRACE is a humbling story about one of the extreme affects from PTSD, an inability to acclimate back to civilian life. Will and Tom only venture into town for supplies, food and so that Will can replenish their only source of income, selling his VA-prescribed painkillers to other struggling veterans. Their life of isolation comes to an end when Tom is accidentally spotted by a jogger who turns around and promptly alerts the authorities. What follows is a tragic, yet touching tale about a father-daughter relationship that reaches a naturalistic breaking point.
Most movies like LEAVE NO TRACE run the risk of being criticized for being too long, too slow, and too boring, but director Debra Granik delivers a nuanced approach, where silences speak loudly and long drawn out scenes feel like an elaborate painting. Foster and McKenzie do more than just stand in her vision; they live and breathe in it, making their characters relatable and realistic. It’s the kind of movie that risks becoming preposterous the longer they’re in the woods, but Granik finds unique ways to reveal more about Will’s mental deterioration and his daughter’s mental awareness about the life she’s living with her father.
In that regard, LEAVE NO TRACE is more than a tale about PTSD, it’s also about Tom’s adolescence. It’s not that she wants to escape life in the woods after getting a taste of the modern world upon their capture; it’s that the harsh woodland conditions have chiseled away at her inner child, leaving behind a hardened young adult. While she has a childlike wonder as soon as she enters society, she views everything through the prism of a weathered adult who’s been sheltered for years. That’s when something begins to click in Tom’s head and she has to make some painstaking choices that no teenager should have to make.
The performances by McKenzie and Foster, as well as the movie’s multi-layered messages, are so subtle; it urges you to engage them. Because there are no bad guys, the film implores you to consider the varying morals and ethics of Will, the government officials that attempt to intervene when he and his daughter are found, and the various people they come across on their journey. Just like life, things aren’t as simple as good and evil, but simply flawed. That allows viewers to meditate on everything that happens throughout the movie and long after the credits roll.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: (1080p HD Widescreen 1:851) The video presentation really captures the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) Nothing wrong with the audio.
Deleted Scenes (2:29): Only two deleted scenes. Nothing of note.
Behind-the-Scenes Vignettes (15:46): There are five little features; however they only look at four distinct scenes in the film.
Creating LEAVE NO TRACE (3:08): A brief peek behind the curtain that offers nothing substantial on the film’s creation.
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