Winter's Bone

Last night I watched Winter's Bone.  It is about a 17 year old girl, named Ree, who has to take care of her two younger siblings and her sick mother.  When her father puts up the farm as bail, she has to find him, dead or alive, to keep her family together.



Throughout the movie, I was surprised how much it resonated with me.  The film was set and filmed in southern Missouri, which is close to where I grew up.  So the scenery looked very familiar.  It could have also been that most of the actors were natives of the area and not professional actors, which lead to a real resonance with the characters. The actor probably knew or were just like the characters they were acting.  But mostly I think it was because the story felt so real.  This story could be happening right now.  The characters were just ordinary people having to do whatever they had to do to survive.  When Ree gets hit, she actually reacts as if it hurts instead of as if she was invincible because she is the main character.  She has to spend time recovering from her injuries.  When she has to do very tough things, she is reluctant and cries and acts like a normal human being.  I think that is what really sets this film apart: the realism throughout the movie.


I would definitely recommend this movie to people who like true stories that don't always answer all the questions, or have happy endings.  It does end satisfactorily, but not like a fairy tale.  Rated R for some drug material, language and violent content.  A couple of F-words, drug use, and beatings are present throughout the movie.  However I think the main reason to be wary is the general dark themes in this movie.  It is not easy to watch. 


IMDB: Was nominated for 4 Oscars and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize.  It defiantly deserved it.