Danny McCarthy, Diana Irvine, drama, Eric Yates, film festivals, Good One, India Donaldson, James Le Gros, Julian Grady, Lily Collias, movies, Peter McNally, reviews, Sam Lanier, Sumaya Bouhbal, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival
February 15, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by India Donaldson
Culture Representation: Taking place in New York state, the dramatic film “Good One” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A 17-year-old girl goes on a camping trip with her father and his divorced best friend, and something inappropriate happens that opens her eyes to how adults often deal with inappropriate actions that are reported.
Culture Audience: “Good One” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in watching a “slice of life” independent film about power issues for a teenage girl experiencing something inappropriate in a male-dominated environment.
People who watch “Good One” should not expect a lot of action or suspense. This well-acted “slice of life” drama (about a 17-year-old girl on a camping trip with her father and his best friend) quietly depicts the loss of innocence when a child learns that adult authority figures will not always protect children. A melodramatic and unrealistic film would not be subtle with this message. What “Good One” does so well is show how these moments can sneak up on people who learn this harsh life lesson by being blindsided by it and having to quickly make certain decisions on how to deal with it.
Written and directed by India Donaldson, “Good One” is her feature-film directorial debut. “Good One” had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The movie is filmed like a cinema verité documentary that chronicles this three-day camping trip in New York’s Catskill Mountain area (als known as the Catskills) in upstate New York. (“Good One” was filmed mostly in Ulster County, New York.) “Good One” doesn’t have anyone’s narration of inner thoughts or hindsight reflection. “Good One” doesn’t have exposition-dumping dialogue.
Instead, what “Good One” has are many conversations and situations that offer clues to who these campers are and the dynamics of their relationship with each other. “Good One” begins in the New York City apartment where 17-year-old girl Sam (played by Lily Collias) lives with her father Chris (played by James Le Gros) and Chris’ wife Casey (played by Diana Irvine). Chris and Casey have been married for an unnamed period of time.
Chris is divorced from Sam’s mother April, who is mentioned but never seen in the movie. Sam does not have any siblings. The movie does not mention what any of the parents do for jobs or how they make money. However, all the main characters in the film are middle-class.
Sam, who is intelligent and introverted, has a very close relationship with her best friend Jessie (played by Sumaya Bouhbal), who is visiting her at the apartment. They have the type of friendship where they both lie on Sam’s bed and look at their phones. The movie leaves it open to interpretation if Sam and Jessie have a sexual attraction to each other.
There isn’t enough shown of their relationship to make that judgment, but someone else in the movie assumes that Jessie is a lesbian without knowing Jessie at all. Jessie will start attending New York Unversity in the upcoming autumn season. It’s an indication that Jessie is probably about one year older than Sam because Sam appears to be someone who will still be in high school during that time period.
Near the beginning of the film, Sam and Chris go in Chris’ car to pick up Chris’ best friend Matt Carter (played by Danny McCarthy) at Matt’s brownstowne apartment in New York City. Matt is first seen at the building’s front door when he’s arguing with his teenage son Dylan (played by Julian Grady), who is about the same age as Sam. Dylan was supposed to go on this camping trip, but Dylan changed his mind at the last minute and refuses to go. Matt is very upset about this change of plans, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
On the way to the Catskills, the trio stops off at a diner, where Matt laments that Dylan isn’t with them for this camping trip. Matt is the most talkative of the three travelers. And it’s obvious within the first few minutes that he’s not feeling good about his personal life.
Later on the movie, Matt complains that he and Dylan aren’t getting along because Matt believes that Matt’s ex-wife/Dylan’s mother Stephanie has turned Dylan against him. Matt will mention sadly a few more times during the camping trip that he wishes Dylan was there. Matt is clearly taking Dylan’s rejection very hard.
Conversations also reveal that Chris and Matt (who have known each other for at least 30 years) have very different personalities. Chris is a meticulous planner and wants to be as prepared as possible for this camping trip. Matt is impulsive and doesn’t really care about being prepared.
For example, when Chris, Matt and Sam go hiking, Chris remarks out loud that Matt is wearing heavy jeans instead of wearing lightweight shorts, which Chris says is better-suited for this type of hiking. (Chris and Sam are wearing these types of shorts, of course.) Matt also overpacked his backpack, which a slightly annoyed Chris unloads to take out unnecessary items before they begin their hike.
Later, when the three campers arrive at the campsite to set up their tents, Chris notices that Matt forgot to bring Matt’s sleeping bag, which is still in Chris’ car. Chris expresses frustration because he had warned Matt that it was necessary to have a sleeping bag because of how cold it would get at night.
What Matt brought instead is a flask of liquor (the movie doesn’t say what type of liquor), which leads Chris to remark to Matt: “Interesting that you managed to bring booze and didn’t bring a sleeping bag.” Matt shrugs off the need for a sleeping bag and says of his liquor: “I figure I needed it for the cold.” There are other hints that Matt abuses alcohol and could possibly have alcoholism.
Later, Chris loses his temper at Matt because Matt left food in Matt’s tent overnight, going against Chris’ explicit orders to not do that, because Chris said that exposed food in tents could attract bears. Chris is angry that Matt could’ve put their safety in jeopardy and is especially incensed that Sam could’ve been harmed if a bear invaded their campsite. Matt thinks Chris is overreacting but says he’s sorry and he won’t do it again. Chris also makes an apology for yelling at Matt.
The conflict is resolved, but it’s another indication of what’s really going on in the friendship of Matt and Chris. Chris is happily married and has a good relationship with his only child. It’s in contrast to Matt, who is upset about his own divorce and strained relationship with his only child. Chris acts as if he’s intellectually and morally superior to Matt, who is clearly dealing with self-esteem issues.
At one point, Matt confides in Sam about how he feels hurt by the way Dylan has been shunning Matt. He wonders aloud when Dylan will stop hating him. Sam advises that Matt should only say positive things about his ex-wife Stephanie to Dylan.
Matt compliments Sam by telling her she’s wise beyond her years. Matt also says about how his divorce his affecting him: “I haven’t lived alone in 30 years.” (It’s an indication that Matt doesn’t have full custody of Dylan.)
“Good One” gets its title from a conversation where Matt is once again talking about his rocky relationship with Dylan. Matt tells Chris with a tinge of envy when commenting on Chris’ being Sam’s father: “Look at what you made. You made a good one.” Chris replies, “I tried not to fuck her up.”
During this trip, Sam occasionally wanders off by herself. During one of these solo excursions, she sees three guys in their late teens horsing around in a nearby pond. These three guys are Zach (played by Sam Lanier), Andy (played by Eric Yates) and Jake (played by Peter McNally), who later encounter Sam, Chris and Matt at the campsite. The three guys are invited to have a campfire meal with Sam, Chris and Matt.
The inappropriate incident that happens to Sam in the last third of the movie is an incident that is not illegal but it’s a verbal comment that is a big red flag of intentions that are more ominous and would be illegal. The person who makes this inappropriate comment is clearly testing Sam to see how she will react and to see what her boundaries are. Sam is in shock when it happens.
This review won’t reveal spoiler information with all the details. But it’s enough to say that what happens to Sam is a gray area and a “he said/she said” situation of sexual harassment where, if reported, whatever happens as a result will depend on which person is believed more. Sam sees firsthand that she doesn’t get the protection that she assumes that she would get when she tells an adult what happened. It’s a reality check that alters her perception of the world and will probably affect Sam for the rest of her life.
All of the principal cast members do well in their roles, but the obvious standout is Collias. She gives an admirable performance where she convincingly portrays quiet Sam’s inner thoughts and feelings, sometimes without saying a word. The inappropriate incident that Sam experiences in “Good One” is not a crime but it’s a test that sexual predators often use to see how far they can go with their intended targets. This test, when reported, is often dismissed as a comment that was a “joke.”
It’s why Collias does a fantastic job of portraying Sam’s inner conflict on whether or not she should tell a trusted adult about the inappropriate thing that she experienced. In the space of a few minutes and for the rest of the trip, Sam has to question everything she knows and was probably taught about who to trust and whom she can turn to for real help. Sam feels powerless, but a brief moment toward the end of film shows how she tries to take back control and have some power that she feels she lost when she became a target of covert sexual harassment.
Because “Good One” is a conversation-driven film where not much happens until the movie’s turning point, some viewers of “Good One” might lose interest in the movie long before Sam experiences this moment of truth. Viewers with patience to watch “Good One” until the end might also be frustrated by how the movie ends. Anyone who hates the ending of “Good One” is probably conditioned to believe that movies are supposed to end with all of the story’s issues wrapped up with definitive answers. “Good One” is a solid statement that life doesn’t always work that way, and bad experiences can be learning experiences on how to handle certain problems.
Metrograph Pictures released “Good One” in select U.S. cinemas on August 9, 2024. The movie was released on digital and VOD on December 6, 2024.