Good One: Everything and Nothing is the Same
by Sydney Reyes
Birds chirping, tree leaves rustling and footsteps against soil surround me as I immerse myself in the world of Director India Dondaldson’s Good One (2024). In this film, we follow Sam (Lily Collias) along with her father Chris (James Le Gros), and his best friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) to an immersive camping trip in upstate New York. Donaldson takes her time in bringing us through the motions of camping, bringing insight into the different practices done with this hobby. This includes: keeping food in a plastic container so bears won’t smell it, how to filter water to drink from the river, and how to cook instant ramen that tastes ten times better in the woods. A young girl with two big male egos out in isolation, what could go wrong? The film is a poignant reality check on girlhood, masked under the fantasy of the forest.
Surrounded by greenery, we learn more about the three characters on this trip and the reasons that led them to need such an escape. Sam is about to start her college journey, a transformative time for a budding queer woman. As a filial daughter, she goes on the trip to spend time with her dad before she’s off to live a new chapter of her life. Sam spends a lot of the film being the referee and buffer for the best friends whenever things go too far. There’s just too much ammo between the two and their years-long friendship. Chris and Matt are your typical mid-life crisis havers: one is too consumed by their job, while the other barely has one. Both are also in the midst of the infamous seven-year itch in their marriages. It’s the standard formula for “I need a break,” and off to the mountains they go.
Good One answers one of my greatest questions when it comes to women in film: what if a character is on her period during the events of the story? It's quite empowering to see this portrayed on screen. Especially while camping, where you bleed in the wilderness. Sam would often excuse herself behind a secluded tree to replace her tampons. She takes her sweet time when doing so, and the audience is placed at the front to witness it. Sam never complains about being on her period—it’s a big part of girlhood that she takes like a champ, like we all do.
The world of Good One is as calm as you’d expect an escapade to the woods would be. We’re faced with an authentic experience of camping that is not glamorized or dramatized. Everything seems to be going fine. That's why when one of the characters says The Statement, the most absurd of suggestions, the film's initially simple universe gets thrown off its axis. Nothing was the same as it was two seconds ago, despite seeming that way due to the forest’s nature of suspending reality. Still, no forest could shield Sam from a reality check about the men in her life and the kind of world she navigates.
Good One expresses how strong messages can be conveyed even in the mundane. Donaldson creatively uses camping as a medium that shows Sam the realities of being a girl. That you tend to be a neutralizer to acidic male egos, that no matter where you are, you bleed, and that you could be subjected to certain things you wish you didn’t have to hear. It’s the reality of girlhood, that no forest or fantasy can protect us from. Despite this, Sam’s maturity and resilience shine throughout this calm yet thought-provoking film.