Little Woods

"Little Woods" feels like a modern twist on a western which is cool, but I just couldn't get into it. I felt lost throughout.

In this drama, two sisters work outside the law in order to better their lives.

Overall, "Little Woods" is not a horrible film but not as great as people are saying it is. Tessa Thompson ("Annihilation") is terrific and powerful and Lily James ("Baby Driver") delivers a complex and emotionally draining performance. For these two lead actresses, I'd say that "Little Woods" is a huge stepping stone but as a whole film, I couldn't dive into it the way I had hoped.

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The plot for Little Woods is pretty simple, its about Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and her sister Deb (Liliy James) and the struggles they're facing. A story like this would sometimes be about them trying to hit it big as struggling artists or it would be about the family trying to reconcile. That's not this movie, this movie isn't about some trivial issues, its about them trying to survive. They aren't just lower middle class, they're at the bottom and they're respective problems (looking for work when you have a record, unwanted pregnancy, nowhere to live etc.) reflect that. I think Little Woods does a great job of showing you those problems without sugarcoating them or trying to add fantasy, they're real, they're horrible and above all else, they're terrifying. You feel for these characters, they may have made bad choices but neither is a terrible person or even deserving of what fate has burdened them with. I was filled with dread as I watched this movie but I didn't feel like there were any false notes or anything that defied plausibility. That's definitely what the movie intended and it definitely got me to that point.

I also thought the movie was very real in how they portrayed the dynamic between Deb and Ollie. Their relationship is complicated, Ollie is trying to be the responsible older sister but she definitely is resentful for having to carry Deb. Deb feels like a failure but is also resentful of both her bad choices and her sister for holding them over her head. They love each other but there's built up baggage and it digs away at them. But their bond is also strong enough to try to overcome for their mutual betterment (even if Deb is secretly wishing Ollie wasn't leaving). It was believable and it brought me in.

What makes this movie really involving though is the performances by Tessa Thompson and Lily James. I was a little worried about Thompson after Men In Black: International but this is special work she does here. She really gets into this part, she's grounded and she helps turn Ollie into someone you want to root for. She's a complicated character and you understand her point of view through Thompson's performance. James is just as good as Deb, she's emotional and vulnerable and you can't help but feel for her. James is a huge talent and she's always good in anything she shows up in. I also liked Lance Reddick and James Badge Dale in their respective supporting roles.

On a final note, although we don't get a definitive answer on how things are going to end up for Ollie and Deb, I liked the direction they went with the ending. If you've ever had serious money problems or lived in a position where life changing events are happening on a day to day basis, the result doesn't always end up in the win or the loss column. We don't get a happy ending here but we also don't get the worst result. Life moves on whether you're ready for it or not and even when you're going through truly awful things, the sun is still going to come up the next day. Little Woods finishes with that kind of resignation and I think there was an honest quality to it. I normally hate ambiguous endings where the movie makes you decide what's going to happen but I think it fits here.

Little Woods is an unflinching look at problems that many people don't want to face. This is an excellent movie that I would have no problem recommending but it also falls into the category of great movies that I have no desire to see again (for example the 2017 movie Detroit is another movie that falls into that category). Its extremely well acted, well written and bleak as all h#!! The only thing that I can say that I would have liked is a little more style, the movie is almost shot like a documentary. I can respect that decision but some artistic flourish might have pushed the grade up a little higher yet. I'd give Little Woods an 8.5/10 which I'll bump up to a 9. It got a fairly limited release so I don't know how easy it would be to see, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend this if you get a chance to Little Woods. Just prepare yourself, it won't be fun to watch.

This is a subtle, slow-burn drama with two fantastic lead performances at its core. Recommended.

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our local library. While it is billed as a "western", set in North Dakota with trips to Canada, it in fact was filmed near Austin, Texas and small area towns like Taylor, Manor, and Luling, perfect locations for gritty, small town scenery.

Two sisters, one adopted, have recently lost their mom, the house is almost in foreclosure, the one sister already is a single mom with a small boy of 5 or 6 and finds herself pregnant again.

The sister not pregnant is 10 days away from the end of her probation for some past drug dealing, she is on a good track and hopes to turn her life around, but finds it hard when old dealers and customers occasionally approach her.

The spit hits the fan when foreclosure is begin, the bank says they need almost $6000 to catch up, after bargaining the bank will take $3000 within one week, and prorate the rest. With prospects for a new job in Washington state the non-pregnant sister just needs to get past this hump, surely she can sell a few drugs to preserve the home for her sister then be done with it.

The movie isn't pretty and it isn't fun to watch, but when it was over both my wife and I had the same comment, we are grateful we had hard working parents who gave us a secure home and always had funds for basic living needs. The fictional story in this movie illustrates how difficult it can be to live your life when choices aren't great and it is either do or die. Unfortunately way too many young adults are in that situation at any given time.

Good movie, gritty but realistic.

Lily James and Tessa Thompson both deliver stunning performances and this film explains beautifully the hardships of a working class woman's life. It's very real, raw and sometimes also quite painful to watch. Nina DaCosta did a terrific job on her first film. Absolutely loved it. It's so powerful and intense and deep and a really good film.