There's an overarching gentleness in Debra Granik's "Leave No Trace," one that's commendable alone for being practically unrecognizable in today's culture. The titular phrase does not quite encapsulate the writer/director's approach to the film, but if her style took on human form, it would not audibly rustle any leaves in the sylvan setting. Even compared to Kelly Reichardt, another restrained humanist director working heavily in the Pacific Northwest, Granik's naturalism pierces our senses by treading ever so lightly on them.
I knew little about this project or its origins before viewing it – always a wonderful luxury – was surprised to learn in the closing credits that Granik, along with her fellow Oscar-nominated co-writer of "Winter's Bone," Anne Rosellini, adapted the film from a novel. While "Leave No Trace" peers deeply into the souls of the two central characters, the film contains scarcely any of the psychological underpinnings necessary to keep a story alive on the page.
Ben Foster's Will, a homeless veteran living with his daughter Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) off the grid in Oregon, clearly carries some baggage to inspire such a drastic break with social norms. Yet Granik refuses to turn his internal anguish into fuel for the narrative. Will is not a mystery for us to solve. He simply is.
Granik seems to view her role as not to film these characters, stand off to the side, and ask why they do what they do. "Leave No Trace" is unobtrusive almost to the point of fault, letting the world of the film breathe, unfurling and concealing itself in equal measure. She relishes in the unhurried moments and languorous journeys without resorting to Slow Cinema tactics of deliberate, self-conscious audience alienation.
I just reviewed this myself and can't get the film out of my mind. It really resonated with me. And Debra Granik's direction…wow.