One of the critically best-ranked films (according to Indiewire’s Critics Poll – and our publication) to break out of this year’s Sundance becomes the maiden voyage debut film for a distrib we are excited about in Metrograph Pictures (we are expecting close to a dozen releases). Variety reports that India Donaldson’s Good One — what we could call a coming-of-ager dramedy will be launched this summer. As this will be seen as Reichardt-ian type cinema, further film festival play is expected with a major European premiere as a big possibility.
Starring Lily Collias, James Le Gros and Danny McCarthy, 17-year-old Sam (Collias) embarks on a three-day backpacking trip in the Catskills with her dad, Chris (Le Gros), and his oldest friend, Matt (McCarthy). As the two men quickly settle into a gently quarrelsome brotherly dynamic, airing long-held grievances, Sam attempts to mediate their disputes. But when lines are crossed and Sam’s trust is betrayed, tensions reach a fever pitch.
We were at the world premiere of the film for the film and sat down with the filmmaker for an interview to be published later this month. Chalk this up as a contender for the next Gothams and Indie Spirits.
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
