A 2013 movie directed by Kelly Reichardt. Three radical environmental activists - the intense Josh (Jesse Eisenberg), wealthy Dena (Dakota Fanning), and mysterious Harmon (Peter Sarsgaard) - plot to blow up a dam.
Tropes include
- Bathhouse Blitz: Played with. Josh strangles Dena in a sauna/steam room, but she hid in there deliberately because she thought he might attack or kill her, and there isn't much of a fight.
- Eco-Terrorist: All three of the protagonists are eco-terrorists.
- Green Aesop: Discussed and invoked. Dena, Josh, and Harmon's intention. People argue over whether or not it was successful, but it ultimately doesn't get them anywhere.
- High-Heel–Face Turn: Dena is the one who cracks after they kill the camper, and it happens almost immediately.
- Hippie Name: The three environmentalist terrorists do not have hippie names (Josh, Dena, and Harmon). Dena is suggested to be a Rich Kid Turned Social Activist, so it makes sense that she wouldn't have one. However, one of the girls that Josh lives on a commune with is called Surprise.
- Horror Hippies: Reconstructed. None of them are traditionally horrifying, with Josh and Dena appearing like pretty standard mid-20s hippies/environmentalist (Josh lives on a commune where he spends most of the time picking vegetables). But they still kill somebody and when it comes down to it, Josh murders Dena.
- Never One Murder: They accidentally kill a camper during the explosion, and then Josh murders Dena.
- Rich Kid Turned Social Activist: Dena comes from money and becomes an eco-terrorist.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: The activists go through all their plans in forensic detail, and they all go wrong from beginning to end, especially Josh's one about not communicating via phone, which Dena breaks in a matter of hours.
- Womanliness as Pathos: Dena is the only one who feels guilt over the camper's death, and she tells Anne about it. Josh kills her to stop her talking.
