by Debra Granik
Will and his teenage daughter Tom roam the woods searching for edible mushrooms, collecting wood and drinking water. Isolated from civilisation, this well-rehearsed duo has set up camp in a nature reserve just outside Portland, Oregon. When they are picked up by the police one day, they are suddenly being forced to leave their idyll and home behind. The two are placed in a small apartment in the city, where Will must find a regular job and Tom must go to school for the first time in her life. A reasonable plan – but unlike his daughter, Will does not feel comfortable among people and soon develops the urge to return to the loneliness of the woods. As in her critically acclaimed second film WINTER'S BONE, which launched the career of Jennifer Lawrence, director Debrah Granik once again puts her faith in upcoming talent with Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie playing the role of Tom in her sensitive and emotional drama LEAVE NO TRACE.