Amidst the lush beauty and contemplative forest atmosphere in upstate New York, Good One asks provocative questions about the dynamics of family, friendship, and what it means to engage in or avoid conflict. 

Good One is writer/director India Donaldson’s striking debut feature which follows 17-year-old Sam (relative newcomer Lily Colias, Palm Trees and Power Lines) as she embarks on a backpacking trip through the Catskills with her divorcé father (James le Gros, Drugstore Cowboy, Certain Women) and his divorcé friend (HBO’s Somebody Somewhere) whose son was supposed to join them, but after an argument, decided not to go at the last minute. Alone, with these two middle-aged men reliving their glory days and past shenanigans, Sam’s internal thoughts play out mostly on her face as she quietly leads these woefully unprepared men on this camping expedition, though she would rather be hanging out with her friends for the weekend. Affable and wise, Sam at first seems to enjoy the intergenerational bonding experience with the two divorced dads, yet the men’s own festering, middle-aged resentments begin to change the emotional tenor of the trip.  

As her father’s paternalistic focus on his wayward friend leaves little space for Sam, Lily Collias crisply conveys her character’s discomfort and changing estimation of their relationship through subtle shifts in expression and body language, allowing the audience to consider alongside her the cost of her obedience, until something happens that alters Sam’s perception of the men and her place in their world. As Chris and Matt, James Le Gros and Danny McCarthy inject the film with tension and uneasy humor, providing context and atmosphere in support of Donaldson’s intricate exploration of the lessons Sam learns, whose portrayal by Lily Collas is a breakthrough performance.