My husband and I watched Leave No Trace last night. He hated it. He thought the movie was bleak and sad. He felt furious with the father during the entire film.

I loved the movie—the nuanced acting, the plot, the camerawork, the casting choices, the understated and unexpected way that the screenwriters, Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, dealt with the storyline. The story is based on a book called My Abandonment by Peter Rock. The book was inspired by a news report about a father and daughter who had spent four years living in a park outside of Portland, Oregon.

My husband was right. The movie was painful to watch, but there was a great deal of beauty in that pain. When I was reading about it online, I came across this review. 

Ebert’s observations are thorough and insightful, so I thought I’d post the link.

If you decide to watch it, I would love to discuss it with you.