Leave No Trace is a 2018 American drama film directed by Debra Granik, with a script co-written by her and Anne Rossellini, based on the novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock. It is Granik's first scripted film since 2010's Winter's Bone, although she had directed the documentary Stray Dog in the interim.
Will (Ben Foster) and his daughter Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) live in a large public park in Portland, Oregon, carrying only barebones camping equipment and only going into the city for essentials when they absolutely have to; for cash, Will sells his VA-provided medications to a fellow veteran. Their goal is to avoid notice as much as possible. Nonetheless, a jogger spots them and notifies the authorities. They are soon assigned to live on a Christmas tree farm operated by Mr. Walters (Jeff Kober), who is moved by Will's military service to offer them housing and give Will a job. Will finds the structure on the farm suffocating, and soon the pair are on the run again. Their travels eventually bring them to an RV community in Washington state, a kind of utopian society outside of society.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The ending of the source novel, My Abandonment, has the unnamed Father assaulted and badly injured by other vagrants, with it implied he died and Caroline (the Tom character) left to make her way in the world alone, though she seems able to forge her own path. The film's ending, while bittersweet, is happier, with Will making his own way knowing Tom is in the care of a community she's happy in.
- Adaptational Sympathy: In My Abandonment Father is repeatedly implied to be mentally unstable and is later revealed to have kidnapped Caroline from her foster family (with certain lines throwing doubt on whether he actually is her father). With these elements excised, Will's PTSD is played up and you're left with no doubt that while his method of raising her is inherently unsafe he still loves his daughter very much and is doing the best he can for her while coping with his demons.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Tom has shades of this, being a teenager, but extremely self-sufficient due to her father's training. While she acts considerably more grown-up than other kids due to only having her father for company, she lacks many of the childlike qualities of this trope for the same reasons.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tom has found a community to belong to so that she can grow as a person, but Will is unable to adapt to this life and returns to live in the woods alone. It's implied that while he won't be in her life as much, the two will see each other again.
- Coming of Age Story: The film gradually charts Tom's development away from her father's way of living in isolation and growing more comfortable around other people and their lifestyles, with her making the choice to stay and live in the trailer community while Will leaves to continue living on his own.
- Cool Old Lady: Dale, the Reasonable Authority Figure leader of the trailer park community who helps Will and Tom out on Tom's word alone. There's also the sweet beekeeper who teaches Tom the ways of the hive.
- Didn't Think This Through: Will and Tom's unplanned flight to Washington. Yes, it offers a multitude of hiding places, but they're now fugitives, without the camping equipment they had earlier and no way to get more without alerting the authorities to where they are. They almost freeze during a storm (with Tom even asking if they'll die in the night) and even though they find a cabin to hide out in it's still unfamiliar territory they're not used to, with Will consequently taking a nasty fall that could easily have crippled or killed him.
- Dr. Feelgood: In a sense, Will fills this role for the other veterans living in the woods. He goes and procures meds from the VA Hospital which he then sells to them for a profit, enabling him to buy food and supplies if need be.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Will's is when he doggedly keeps trying to light firewood at the camp despite it being wet, even after a frustrated and hungry Tom starts getting the propane, establishing that he's extremely stubborn about doing things his way, even when it's not to his or Tom's benefit.
- Tom's is slightly later, when the two find a necklace while trekking through the woods. Her small act of rebellion in covering it up so it'll still be there when they get back - in stark opposition to what he says - shows both her growing interest in even little things from the wider world, and that she's not willing to blindly obey her father all the time.
- Headbutt of Love: Will and Tom do this several times throughout the film, most notably during their final farewell at the end.
- The Hermit: Will and Tom's lifestyle is very close to this, only rarely venturing into Portland when they either need essential supplies or when Will needs to pick up his medication to sell on.
- Homeschooled Kids: Will has taught Tom as they've lived together in the forest, leading her to be academically more advanced than other kids her own age. That said, as Tom's social worker Jean points out, school is also about the social element - something Tom sorely lacks.
- I Am Not My Father: Tom eventually comes to understand that her father's PTSD and fear of living in civilisation will leave them constantly being The Hermit, something she doesn't want to do after finding belonging in the community. This eventually leads to the two tearfully going their own ways at the end. Unusually, she doesn't blame him for it, saying she knows he'd stay if he could.Tom: These people, they're not that different from us.Will: Yes, they've been very good to us, but we have to -Tom: You! You need. Not me. Same thing that's wrong with you isn't wrong with me.Will: [sadly] I know.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: How Tom increasingly feels as the movie goes on, encountering potential friends she's comfortable with and a community she feels at home in. It eventually drives her to stay behind when Will leaves, unable to commit to his nomadic way of living any more.
- Ludicrous Precision: The homeless veteran Will sells his meds to says it's been two years, seven months and twenty-eight days since he's needed to take any of them.
- The Medic: Larry is a former U.S. Army medic who patches up Will after his accident. He also appears to suffer from PTSD as he has a service dog, though he is clearly much better adjusted than Will is.
- Missing Mom: Tom asks Will what her mother's favorite color was. The question implies that it's just been the two of them for as long as she can remember.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Played for Drama. Both the social worker who first contacts them and a trucker who they ask for a ride see a scruffy, homeless-looking man who seems constantly on-edge and doesn't speak much with a quiet teenage girl and are naturally concerned. It makes for some tense moments, but Tom is able to convince them that she isn't being abused or mistreated.
- Mundane Object Amazement: Tom is fascinated by the Christian dancing troupe she sees at the tree community's church, especially their ribbon sticks. Not long after, Will teaches her to ride a bike for the first time after their social worker brings one, something both are elated by.
- No Antagonist: There's not a single character in the film who's malicious, cruel or even uncaring. The conflict is derived from the incompatibility between the way Will wants to live and what the rules of society allow (and ultimately Tom's needs).
- No Social Skills: Will lacks them because of his wartime trauma and the avoidant philosophy he's adopted. Tom is homeschooled, and hasn't had significant interaction with people beyond her father.
- The Patient Has Left the Building: Will takes off again at the end, this time alone, even though his leg hasn't finished healing.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Jean and James, the social workers for Tom and Will, respectively, both demonstrate goodwill and try to find an arrangement that works for them instead of splitting them up.
- Mr. Walters could probably get good publicity out of hiring a homeless veteran, but genuinely seems to like Will as well.
- The trailer park owner accepts Tom's need to not take Will to the hospital on her word alone, arranges medical help from a veteran friend and increasingly takes the time to help out Tom as she socializes more. She later only takes a single note as a deposit when Tom tries to rent their trailer long-term, diplomatically pointing out that she's not going to rip them off.
- Will himself; while he uproots Tom socially several times it's less being a Principles Zealot and more his traumatic experiences leaving him unable to function in that world. He's as understanding as possible about Tom's increasing independence, and comes to realise that his traumatic experiences don't define his daughter as well. When Tom chooses to stay in the trailer community near the end, he's devastated but immediately accepting of her going her own way.
- The Runaway: A teen runaway boards the same long distance bus as Will and Tom after they leave the farm, and police sweep it and find her. The experience spooks Will so much that he and Tom don't get back on at the next stop.
- Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Downplayed compared to something like the similarly themed Captain Fantastic but still present; Tom is well-versed in survival skills and academically advanced for her age, but lacking in social skills and experience living around other people.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Will experiences undigested trauma from the action he saw overseas (probably Afghanistan or Iraq, given the contemporary setting). The sound of helicopters makes him notably agitated, and the sound even haunts his dreams. Larry, the former army medic who patches up Will's leg at the RV park, speaks of bad war experiences as well and has a service dog he briefly lends Will.
- Silence Is Golden: The film has a musical score, but it's minimal and drops out for some scenes. It's also remarkably light on dialogue -
Word of God has it that Ben Foster and the director removed much of it to increase the sense of realism. - Trauma Button: The sound of helicopters seems to be Will's, apparently bringing back bad memories of his wartime experiences.
