Good One
20246.5movie
People
On a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills, 17-year-old Sam contends with the competing egos of her father and his oldest friend.
On a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills, 17-year-old Sam contends with the competing egos of her father and his oldest friend.
India Donaldson’s “Good One” is extraordinary in so many ways, but its most distinctive quality is how much Donaldson and her trio of actors (James LeGros, Danny McCarthy, and Lily Collias) trust the subterranean, and allow it to do its work far beneath the surface, between the words. Chris (Le Gros) and Matt (McCarthy) are lifelong friends, with a relationship like an old bickering married couple. Chris is the responsible one, but his marriage has ended and he’s in a state of unwelcome middle-aged upheaval. Matt is a failed actor, openly flailing with disappointment.
Good One is a quiet 2024 drama film that explores masculinity, micro-aggressions, and the female experience.India Donaldson and Lily Collias are showing the female perspective themselves. Regardless of how they present themselves, women have to cater to men in some way. Even when another man causes them emotional and/or physical distress, the woman has to be the good one.
