A teenage girl goes on a camping trip with her father and his oldest friend. Typically, this type of movie would be a coming of age film, focusing on the ways in which the main character matures throughout the film. India Donaldson’s feature debut “Good One” is anything but that. Sam (Lily Collias) is about to enter a big life change as she nears graduation and questions what her current high school friendships will be like in a year. Her father Chris (James Le Gros), an avid camper who has passed the passion on to Sam, takes his daughter and oldest friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) on a camping trip. While both men bicker and ponder the woes of their lives, Sam is a backseat passenger to it all. During the duration of their trip, Sam’s experience and relationship with both men begins to fluctuate. In its short yet meditative runtime, “Good One” explores the often underseen aspects of teenage girlhood through the eyes of its superb star Lily Collias.
The trip begins already on a tumultuous foot. Matt’s son was supposed to join, but at the last minute decides he’d rather not spend a weekend with his father who is in the midst of a divorce from his mother. This results in a tense car ride up state, as Matt and Chris discuss the issue while Sam sits quietly in the back, a pattern that will follow for most of the film. As the trio hike deeper into the forest, not only do the men become more open about their adult struggles, they also burden Sam with their drama. While emotions shift and a specific incident occurs, it becomes evident that Sam is in some ways more mature than these two grown men.
Instead of investigating the possibilities for Sam’s own personal growth that typically occur in this genre, Donaldson instead focuses on the maturity Sam has already acquired. This is done mostly through unspoken actions, such as Sam’s quiet facial reactions or body language. It is clear how intentional Donaldson’s script and Collias’s performance are, with each beat in the story being portrayed by the choices Collias makes with her body. This constructs a quiet, yet deeply felt performance that alludes to both Donaldson and Collias’s talents. Apart from the performance, the film itself is grounded in its soundscape and warm toned cinematography. When the two men aren’t loudly conversing, sounds of the forest fill the world. The clanking of camping gear and the crunching of boots build out the isolated world the characters exist in. All they have are each other during this time, and that will cause tensions to begin to spill over.
As a teenage girl surrounded by two emotionally immature men, Sam witnesses not only hilarious stupidity but also uncomfortable truths about them. Both men have struggled through their relationships, one being Sam’s mom as her own father has recently remarried and has a baby on the way. The men discuss their issues with little consideration of Sam overhearing them. When Sam does voice her opinion, it is such a realistically teen answer, but also carries that unashamed honesty only a teen can muster. These insights Sam shares begin to make clear that she is far more in touch with her emotions and the emotions of others than these two grown men. The immaturity of Chris and Matt builds over time, until Sam is forced into an uncomfortable situation that brings the entire thesis of the film together.
Donaldson brilliantly composes the trio of characters with an undeniably authentic script, so that the characters feel natural. The dialogue feels easy and relatable, allowing for a flow that draws the audience in. In between all that dialogue lays Collias’s detailed performance, which communicates so much of what the film is trying to say. When the runtime comes to an end, the entire film is seen in a new light, while the seeds have been planted to lead you along the way. A quiet yet stirring film, “Good One” is a remarkable and unique telling of what girlhood can be when it isn’t about growing into something. Rather, it is about how girls must always be hyper aware of themselves when in the presence of men.
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