History Film / WintersBone

* PoliceAreUseless: The local sheriff is crooked,and commands absolutely no respect from the residents.

* SouthernGothic: While technically set in the Midwest (specifically the Ozark's of Missouri) the setting is an unfriendly, twisted town with an eerie swamp full of twisted decay nearby. There are also supernatural elements, and bits of folklore and legend are woven into the novel.

* TheDreaded

** "Teardrop". Real name: Haslam Dolly.

* PoliceAreUseless: The local sheriff is crooked, and commands absolutely no respect from the residents.

* TheSpeechless: Connie, Ree's mother, who appears to have lost the power of speech as a result of mental breakdown.

* SouthernGothic: The setting is an unfriendly, twisted town with an eerie swamp full of twisted decay nearby. There are also supernatural elements, and bits of folklore and legend are woven into the novel.

* CrapsackWorld: The Ozarks are presented as a really terrible place to live. The camera frequently lingers on the dilapidated buildings and barren wasteland wherever Ree goes.

* AgeLift: Thump Milton's granddaughter Megan seems to be a teenager in the film, but is somewhere in her twenties in the book.

* ChestOfMedals[=/=]HatOfAuthority: These mark Thump as the supreme of the Milton brothers.
* CrapsackWorld: The Ozarks are presented as a really terrible place to live. For a lot of the story, especially in the book, you could be forgiven for thinking it was set in a mild post-apocalyptic wasteland rather than the modern-day United States.

** Ree's uncle Teardrop is a violent, intimidating felon who even Thump is hesitant to pick a fight with.

* FilmNoir: Very much of the Neo-Realist variety. The plot is, in many ways, a very classic noir plot about a protagonist pursuing a seemingly straight-forward case (bonus points for it being a missing person case) that turns out to be more complicated and dangerous than expected.

* FunctionalAddict: Teardrop.

* TheGhost: [[spoiler:Ree's father, Jessup Dolly, never makes an on-screen appearance. The closest are his literal dead, cold hands and a picture of him as a child]].
* GoryDiscretionShot: The camera focuses on Ree's crying face as [[spoiler: the women chainsaw Jessup's hands off his corpse.]]

** Ree can be very rude and abrasive, but mostly just wants what's best for her siblings.
** Teardrop is a real bastard in the beginning of the film, but shows stronger family loyalty toward the end, despite also being somewhat AxCrazy. [[spoiler: He ends up saving Ree from a brutal beating, and even tells the women who beat her up that they have to blame him if they're going to blame Ree.]]
** Merab. If your standards for a heart of gold are extremely liberal.

* MexicanStandoff: Teardrop has one with the sheriff by refusing to speak with him. The sheriff tries to press the issue, but ends up backing down.

* 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. Ree herself has been considering joining the Army, and the impending loss of the family homestead adds urgency to the matter.

* SceneryDissonance: Type 1. The film is a chain of horrible events set in beautiful, snowy forest environments.

%% StarMakingRole: Don't add this here; see Trivia subpage.

* TownWithADarkSecret: The community in general is one of these in spades, what with nearly everyone in town being in on the meth trade.
* TheUnreveal: While Teardrop does find out who killed Jessup, it's never revealed which, if any, of the characters Ree interacted with did it. Suspects Teardrop names in the book include Little Arthur, Sleepy John (who may have been the man who contributed cash in addition to the Dolly land in order to ensure that Jessup got bailed out of jail, possibly out of friendship, possibly to make him easier to kill), Buster Leroy, and Cotton Milton (all of whom are among the crowd in Thump's barn after Ree gets beaten up).

Creator/JenniferLawrence stars as 17-year-old Ree Dolly. With an absent father and a mentally ill mother, Ree is left to raise her two young siblings in a rural, Ozark community. One day, she learns that her father has put up the family home for his jail bond and disappeared. If Ree does not locate him within a few days, the family will be evicted. As Ree begins asking questions about her father's fate, she encounters increasingly violent resistance from local residents, all of whom are wrapped up in the meth trade.

The film and novel share some similarities with the story of ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'' since [[spoiler: both female protagonists have to bury their relatives and must undergo a 'test' of sorts while journeying to do so]]. It has received very positive reviews (garnering a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90 on Metacritic) and Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal was especially praised (this was two years before she became famous as Katniss Everdeen).

The film and novel share some similarities with the story of ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'' since [[spoiler: both female protagonists have to bury their relatives and must undergo a 'test' of sorts while journeying to do so]] received very positive reviews (garnering a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90 on Metacritic) and Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal was especially praised (this was two years before she became famous as Katniss Everdeen).

* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: Averted. The squirrel which Ree teaches the children to skin certainly didn't come from the supermarket.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: Ree and Little Arthur's attitude towards each other makes more sense if you've read the book and know that [[spoiler: Little Arthur drugged and raped her before the events of the plot]]. The flashback scene where this is shown was AdaptedOut but the characters still act in a way that implies it. It is also never specifically stated in the film that [[spoiler: Blond Milton is Sonny's father]] though dialogue later in the movie alludes to it.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: [[spoiler:Downplayed. 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.]]

* OneNightStandPregnancy: Ree's friend Gail got pregnant from a ''two''-night stand pregnancy, being Floyd's rebound girl for two nights when he and his girlfriend where fighting, before he went back to her, only to end up having to marry Gail in a ShotgunWedding after her pregnancy became apparent, [[AwfulWeddedLife something which has not provided them the basis for a happy marriage]].

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: Ree and Little Arthur's attitude towards each other makes more sense if you've read the book and know that [[spoiler: Little Arthur drugged and raped her before the events of the plot]]. The flashback scene where this is shown was AdaptedOut but the characters still act in a way that in a way that implies it. It is also never specifically stated in the film that [[spoiler: Blond Milton is Sonny's father]] though dialogue later in the movie alludes to it.

* PoliceAreUseless: The local sheriff is a CorruptHick, and commands absolutely no respect from the residents.

* TheDreaded: Teardrop.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: Ree and Little Arthur's attitude towards each other makes more sense if you've read the book and know that [[spoiler: Little Arthur drugged and raped her before the events of the plot]]. The flashback scene where this is shown was AdaptedOut but the characters still act in a way that in a way that implies it. It is also never specifically stated in the film that [[spoiler: Milton is Sonny's father]] though dialogue later in the movie alludes to it.

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

* NoodleIncident: [[spoiler:It is implied but never confirmed that that the reason Jessep was killed was because he was cornered by the law and ratted people out because of that.]]
* OneNightStandPregnancy: Ree's friend Gail got pregnant from a ''two'' night stand pregnancy, being Floyd's rebound girl for two nights when he and his girlfriend where fighting, before he went back to her, only to end up having to marry Gail in a ShotgunWedding after her pregnancy became apparent, something which has not provided them the basis for a happy marriage.

* SwampsAreEvil: Jessup's family's dumping ground is the swamp. [[spoiler: Eventually, it's where Ree finds the dead body of her father.]]

* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Well, they do, but they're unlikely to venture out into the meth-ravaged and determinedly insular communities of the Ozarks. It never seems to occur to anyone that proving that Ree's father is dead will not only get the bond released, but also means that his wife and children will be able to collect Social Security survivors' benefits. That certainly would make a major difference in their living conditions.

* TheUnreveal: While Teardrop does find out who killed Jessup, it's never revealed which, if any, of the characters Ree interacted with did it. Suspects Teardrop names in the book include Little Arthur, Sleepy John (who may have been the man who contributed cash in addition to the Dolly land on order to ensure that Jessup got bailed out of jail, possibly out of friendship, possibly to make him easier to kill), Buster Leroy, and Cotton Milton (all of whom are among the crowd in Thump's barn after Ree gets beaten up).