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 intimate feature debut deploys a deceptively simple narrative imbued with poetry and humor to wrestle with weighty truths about teenage girlhood. Capturing the pristine serenity of the natural beauty of the film’s setting via Wilson Cameron’s delicate cinematography, "Good One" artfully crystallizes how the men’s competitive friction overtakes Sam’s experience of even the most tranquil landscape.
As her father’s paternalistic focus on his wayward friend leaves little space for Sam, Lily Collias crisply conveys her character’s discomfort and changing estimation of their relationship through subtle shifts in expression and body language, allowing the audience to consider alongside her the cost of her obedience. As Chris and Matt, James Le Gros and Danny McCarthy inject the film with tension and uneasy humor, providing context and atmosphere in support of Donaldson’s intricate exploration of the lessons Sam learns.