The Microbudget Indie That Conquered Cannes, Sundance, and the NYT Top 10
Writer-Director INDIA DONALDSON talks GOOD ONE
"The wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask."
– Nancy Newhall
Storytelling was born in the deep woods, around flickering fires. Perhaps it’s no surprise that forests have become a recurring setting for our stories. From ancient myths and medieval fairy tales to the horror flicks and Hunger Games of today, the woods represent places of spiritual testing, where characters face unexpected challenges and undergo transformations.
Good One (2024), India Donaldson’s lovely, dark, and deep debut feature, follows Sam (Lily Collias), a 17-year-old girl on the cusp of leaving for college, as she embarks on a weekend camping trip with her uptight father, Chris (James Le Gros), and his bumbling best friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy). It begins as a light-hearted excursion, with Sam quietly enduring the bickering and bravado of two middle-aged men navigating life post-divorce. But when things take a troubling emotional turn, Sam finds herself forging an uncharted path.
After spending years “lost in the woods” seeking funding for a larger film project, Donaldson pivoted during the pandemic to developing Good One—a lean, intimate story centered on three core actors and set in a remote, free location. Filmed in just 12 days on a shoestring budget, Good One defied its humble origins with an extraordinary trajectory. The film premiered at Sundance, screened at New Directors/New Films, and earned a coveted spot at Cannes in 2024, all while securing distribution through Metrograph Pictures, the boutique label helmed by former A24 executive David Laub. And just last weekend, New York Times critic Alissa Wilkinson named it among her Top 10 Best Films of this year.
When I saw Good One in theaters last summer, I was floored by Lily Collias’s quietly riveting performance as Sam, as well as the smoldering subtlety of Donaldson’s script and direction. This is not a film for those chasing high drama - or even medium drama. Its restraint evokes the elliptical elegance of a New Yorker short story. It was a genuine pleasure to speak with Donaldson this week about her journey making Good One. You can watch our conversation in the video below:
Good One (2024)
Where To Watch Good One
Good One is out today to rent or purchase via Google Play and YouTube.
News Reel
Vanessa Hope, director of the phenomenal - and urgent - documentary Invisible Nation (I featured it here back in October), recently gave a fascinating interview with Channel 4. For a limited time (December 6–9), you can catch Invisible Nation online via Gathr. Don’t miss it!
Meanwhile, the box office has roared to life with record highs over the past few weekends - movies are so back! But inevitably, some annoying film snobs (me, probably) are bemoaning the lack of originality in theaters. The top 10 grossing movies of the year are all sequels, and as Matt Goldberg points out, it’s not just the studios pushing sequels and franchises - it’s audiences:
“Studios are being timid, but so are viewers. No one wants to pay money for a bad movie, and on some level, I understand that. […] But I do feel like if audiences want to see anything other than franchise sequels, they’ll need to start showing up for films that aren’t franchise sequels. Maybe some of the movies will be bad, but there are worse things in the world than seeing a bad movie.”
Over at Rough Cuts,
has a terrific new post about the “wallpaperization” of cinema. “Beautiful though these frames are, out of context they feel like cinematic snack food — digestible morsels that slip down the gullet without providing sustenance. I fear that the more we consume them, the more we risk forever altering our palette.”- sounds off on Why Ben Affleck is Probably Wrong about GenAI and the film business.
One More Thing
A few weeks ago on Substack Notes, I shared this incredible photo by Matt Dunlap. Since then, it’s amassed over 3,600 likes and garnered heaps of well-deserved praise. It’s always a joy to spotlight talented artists across disciplines and share their work with a community that truly values art.
That’s all for this week’s free edition of Underexposed. Beneath the cut, India Donaldson shares her Underexposed Guest Pick - and we’ve got a bonus article, Into The Woods. Underexposed is an ad-free, reader-supported publication, so if you like what you’re reading, or if you’re looking for a holiday gift for a film lover in your life, consider a paid subscription.
Into The Woods
In 1940, three boys and their dog were exploring the woods in southwestern France when they came upon a dark cave. Inside, they found elaborate paintings covering the rocks, images of animals in various stages of interaction - fleeing, being hunted, then caught - a progression of events. They represent some of humanity's earliest attempts at visual storytelling - the first known effort to communicate meaning about the world through art. In honor of this age-old tradition, here are a few of my favorite forest films…
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