From an initially peaceful story, peppered with ordinary misogyny, this first feature brings out a saving feminist surge.
Sometimes all it takes is one sequence to transcend the narrative of a film. This is the case in Good One, first feature film by India Donaldson, the first hour of which deploys a well-identified formal universe of American indie cinema, following the hike in the woods of Sam, a 17-year-old teenager, in the company of her father and a friend in him. From this sylvan stroll, the filmmaker orchestrates a cadenced rhythm, which evokes Old Joy by Kelly Reichardt, to patiently observe the generational divide that separates the young protagonist from her male companions.
The face of the actress Lily Collias gradually reveals a certain confusion: a withdrawn observer, overcome by boredom and embarrassment in the face of the clumsy virility of the two men, she also seems to show a form of compassion, even affection, for them. . On the surface, they seem harmless – like the film itself.
During a long scene by the fire, however, a shift reshuffles the cards of the story. Without saying too much, a deeply ambiguous response, accompanied by a sudden acceleration of the cutting, is enough to open a breach to bring out the violence lurking in ordinary misogyny. At the same time as trust was established between the characters, our critical vigilance was dulled, so much so that this long-delayed incident transcribes with great accuracy the effect of astonishment that it causes on its heroine.
Intelligently constructed, Good One succeeds in sharing this view in order to reveal what the anecdotal hides as intolerable. The story of emancipation that follows, much more assertive, is all the more striking because it does not simply arise from an overbearing speech, but rather is based on the shock caused by an unexpected departure from the road.
Good One by India Donaldson, with Lily Collias, James LeGros (USA, 2024, 1h30). In theaters November 13.
