Little Woods

"Little Woods" (2018 release; 103 min.) brings the story of sisters Ollie and Deb. As the movie opens, Ollie is burying a package of some sort in the woods somewhere in North Dakota (only much later do we learn what is in that package). We get to know Ollie, as she is coming closer to ending her probation (for dealing opioids). "You are so close, please stay out of trouble", her probation officer implores. But Ollie's house is about to be foreclosed on. Meanwhile Deb is in an even tougher spot: she lives in a trailer on a parking lot, along with her young son. Then she finds out that she is pregnant... At this point we are less than 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the feature-length debut from African-American writer-director Nia DaCosta, and what a debut this is! Almost from the get-go, the situation is tense, and the mood is grim, as Ollie and Deb are coping with a tough playing field (or as John Mellencamp once observed: "doing the best they can"). The odds are stacked against them, and it never seems to get any better, on the contrary. The movie benefits enormously from the lead performers: Tessa Thompson is masterful as Ollie, and I doubt we will see her again in such a small indie movie anytime soon ("Men In Black: International" is next up for her, if you get my drift). British actress Lily James plays Deb, and she also is clearly on her way to bigger things (next up for her: "Yesterday"). When deep into the movie Ollie and Deb assess their situation, which looks dire, Ollie wryly comments "Your choices are only as good as your options". DaCosta captures it all perfectly, and this is frankly an amazing and impressive debut film that had me on the edge of my seat throughout.

"Little Woods" premiered at last year's Tribeca film festival, yes over a year ago! No idea why it has taken this long to get a theatrical release, but better late than not I suppose. The movie opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well (5 people, including myself), which is a darn shame. Hopefully the movie will find a larger audience as it is released on other platforms. If you are in the mood for a tense family drama with outstanding lead performances, you could do a lot worse than "Little Woods". Of course I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Amazing movie that tells a great story and never strays away from the main character. Perfect film, beautifully written, you can feel the sister's struggle, and their determination.

Got to see it last year at the Heartland Film Festival and very much enjoyed myself. For a first time writer-director I thought Nia DaCosta did a terrific job. Tessa Thompson is always great but I was very happily surprised by Lily James! I had no idea that she was Cinderella in the live action remake. All around good film, cant imagine why people on imdb dont seem to like it.

The plot for Little Woods is pretty simple, its about Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and her sister Deb (Liliy James) and the struggles they're facing. A story like this would sometimes be about them trying to hit it big as struggling artists or it would be about the family trying to reconcile. That's not this movie, this movie isn't about some trivial issues, its about them trying to survive. They aren't just lower middle class, they're at the bottom and they're respective problems (looking for work when you have a record, unwanted pregnancy, nowhere to live etc.) reflect that. I think Little Woods does a great job of showing you those problems without sugarcoating them or trying to add fantasy, they're real, they're horrible and above all else, they're terrifying. You feel for these characters, they may have made bad choices but neither is a terrible person or even deserving of what fate has burdened them with. I was filled with dread as I watched this movie but I didn't feel like there were any false notes or anything that defied plausibility. That's definitely what the movie intended and it definitely got me to that point.

I also thought the movie was very real in how they portrayed the dynamic between Deb and Ollie. Their relationship is complicated, Ollie is trying to be the responsible older sister but she definitely is resentful for having to carry Deb. Deb feels like a failure but is also resentful of both her bad choices and her sister for holding them over her head. They love each other but there's built up baggage and it digs away at them. But their bond is also strong enough to try to overcome for their mutual betterment (even if Deb is secretly wishing Ollie wasn't leaving). It was believable and it brought me in.

What makes this movie really involving though is the performances by Tessa Thompson and Lily James. I was a little worried about Thompson after Men In Black: International but this is special work she does here. She really gets into this part, she's grounded and she helps turn Ollie into someone you want to root for. She's a complicated character and you understand her point of view through Thompson's performance. James is just as good as Deb, she's emotional and vulnerable and you can't help but feel for her. James is a huge talent and she's always good in anything she shows up in. I also liked Lance Reddick and James Badge Dale in their respective supporting roles.

On a final note, although we don't get a definitive answer on how things are going to end up for Ollie and Deb, I liked the direction they went with the ending. If you've ever had serious money problems or lived in a position where life changing events are happening on a day to day basis, the result doesn't always end up in the win or the loss column. We don't get a happy ending here but we also don't get the worst result. Life moves on whether you're ready for it or not and even when you're going through truly awful things, the sun is still going to come up the next day. Little Woods finishes with that kind of resignation and I think there was an honest quality to it. I normally hate ambiguous endings where the movie makes you decide what's going to happen but I think it fits here.

Little Woods is an unflinching look at problems that many people don't want to face. This is an excellent movie that I would have no problem recommending but it also falls into the category of great movies that I have no desire to see again (for example the 2017 movie Detroit is another movie that falls into that category). Its extremely well acted, well written and bleak as all h#!! The only thing that I can say that I would have liked is a little more style, the movie is almost shot like a documentary. I can respect that decision but some artistic flourish might have pushed the grade up a little higher yet. I'd give Little Woods an 8.5/10 which I'll bump up to a 9. It got a fairly limited release so I don't know how easy it would be to see, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend this if you get a chance to Little Woods. Just prepare yourself, it won't be fun to watch.

Lily James and Tessa Thompson both deliver stunning performances and this film explains beautifully the hardships of a working class woman's life. It's very real, raw and sometimes also quite painful to watch. Nina DaCosta did a terrific job on her first film. Absolutely loved it. It's so powerful and intense and deep and a really good film.