Search for Movie Review: 'winter's Bone' Director Debra Granik Returns With Engrossing Drama 'leave No Trace,' Playing This Weekend At Okc on Bing

By Brandy McDonnellAn excerpt of this review appears in Friday's Weekend Life section of The Oklahoman. 4 of 4 stars.Movie review: 'Winter's Bone' director Debra Granik returns with engrossing drama 'Leave No Trace'After garnering near-universal acclaim with her 2010 thriller “Winter’s Bone,” which introduced the world to Oscar-winning superstar Jennifer Lawrence, director Debra Granik makes her long-awaited return to feature film with the empathetic and engrossing drama “Leave No Trace,” one of my favorite movies of 2018.The film starts out mysteriously, almost meditatively, as Will (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) rough it in a carefully camouflaged tent in a vast nature preserve.The screenplay by Granik and Anne Rosellini, adapted from Peter Rock’s novel “My Abandonment,” slowly, subtly trickles out a few details: Will is a widow and a war veteran, he and his daughter have lived undetected in Portland, Oregon’s Forest Park for a good long while, and they occasionally go into the city to sell the PTSD meds Will gets from the VA to other vets and then shop for groceries and supplies.A stern but loving and protective father, Will drills Tom on how to survive and stay hidden, and he has a tight bond with his bright, curious and quiet daughter.But when the pair is caught and cast out of the public park, it sends father and daughter on a physically and emotionally fraught journey to find a new home.Granik, who divides her time between making documentaries and feature films, neither romanticizes nor sensationalizes the family’s off-the-grid existence, and she thankfully spares us clichés like wartime flashbacks or teenaged angst.Read more on NewsOK.com