‘Good One’ Review: An Explosive New Indie About a Camping Trip Gone Wrong

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Good It all hinges on a single, unambiguous question, but writer/director India Donaldson’s debut film is mostly about what’s left unsaid—and, at times, about the pain, grief, and regret that’s articulated awkwardly, in bits and pieces, amid the chatter of everyday life.

A contemplative indie about a backpacking trip marked by midlife malaise, teenage unease, and uncomfortable intergenerational dynamics, this Sundance Film Festival highlight, in theaters August 9, is a quietly explosive tale of disconnection and betrayal, its placid exterior masking a source of combustible tensions that are both impossible to ignore and difficult to resolve.

In a New York brownstone, Sam (Lily Collias), a gay teenager, prepares to go on a camping trip with her father Chris (James Le Gros), her struggling actor boyfriend Matt (Danny McCarthy), and Matt’s son Dylan (Julian Grady). Sam’s girlfriend Jessie (Sumaya Bouhbal) laughs at Sam’s preparations for the trip, but the girl, who is about to leave for college, seems mildly excited about the idea of ​​going.

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