History Film / WintersBone

* TheGhost: Jessup Dolly.

** The sheriff is _worse_ than useless. His failure to keep confidential the fact that Ree's father was an informant lead to the latter's murder.

** Arguably, the sheriff is *worse* than useless; [[spoiler: his failure to keep Jessup's informant work secret resulted in the latter's death.]]

** Merab.

* FlyoverCountry: The film presents a pretty harrowing worm's eye view of just what is going on in some of those tiny Midwest towns. It ain't good.
** Arguably, the Missouri Ozarks belong more to the South than to the Midwest.

* PatrioticFervor: Hinted at around the edges. Homes display pictures of family members in the service. The local watering hole has a large, patriotic mural. The school ROTC is very popular.

* PatrioticFervor: Hinted at around the edges. Homes display pictures of family members in the service. The local watering hole has a large, patriotic mural. The school ROTC is very popular. Averted by Ree who only considers joining the Army as a way to get some desperately needed money.
** Ree's clearly been thinking about joining the Army for some time. Early in the movie she's seen putting her name on a list at the school, presumably a sign-up sheet for the military recruiters, and later on Victoria (Teardrop's wife) asks her "you still planning to join the Army?" Nonetheless, the bond situation gave her Army plans greater urgency.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Teardrop is a real bastard in the beginning of the film, but shows stronger family loyalty toward the end, despite also being somewhat AxCrazy.
** Merab would qualify as well.

** There aren't really any grounds for social services to intervene. Sonny and Ashlee attend school regularly, seem reasonably clean, and have old but sufficiently warm clothing.
* {{Squick}}: [[spoiler: After being led to her father's body, submerged in a swamp, Ree has to hold his hands while another person cuts them off with a chainsaw, as she has to present the hands to the police to prove that her father is dead and get the bond released.]]

* MetaCasting: the soldier Ree talks to is a real-life Army recruiter. Their conversation was unscripted, and he responded to her inquiries as if talking to a real recruit.
** Also, the two children who play Ree's younger siblings actually lived in the house where much of the filming took place. The gender of one of the children was changed from the book (wherein both of Ree's siblings were boys) in order to accomodate the little girl.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: [[spoiler: Partial aversion. Ree is savagely beaten -- she even spits out a tooth -- and for part of the film her face is a bloody mess. However, by the end of the film she looks basically the same as she did at the beginning.]]

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler: Ree receives one from the women of the Milton family for persisting in trying to speak with Thump after having been warned not to.]]

* WouldntHitAGirl: The men won't. [[spoiler: So the women beat Ree instead.]]

* NamesToRunAwayFrom: Thump, the patriarch of the drug-cooking family

* SwampsAreEvil: Jessup's family's dumping ground is the swamp. [[spoiler: Eventually where Ree finds the dead body of her father]]
* WouldntHitAGirl: The men won't. So the women beat Ree instead.

* ThePatriarch

** "Thump" doesn't sound like a particularly scary name, but to everyone in the extended family his is definitely a [[NamesToRunAwayFrom Name To Run Away From]]

* FluffyTheTerrible: "Teardrop". Real name: Mr Dolly.

** "Thump" doesn't sound like a particularly scary name, but everyone treats him like he's got a NameToRunAwayFrom

* FluffyTheTerrible: "Teardrop". Real name: Mr Dolly.

* FluffyTheTerrible: "Teardrop".