Watching “Good One,” the new film from writer/director India Donaldson, feels a lot like curling up with a good book in the comfort of your own house.

It’s a compelling story that takes its time to breathe and settle in, anchored by a breakout performance from its young star Lily Collias. This is the kind of film where the audience really gets to know the characters intimately, watching their lives unfold as neutral observers, but then something happens in the third act that shatters all those perceptions in a way that leaves a lasting impact.

This is among the best films of 2024 to date.

Donaldson’s story is quite simple – Sam (Collias) is a 17-year-old heading out on a camping trip with her father Chris (James Le Gros) and his longtime friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) and his son.

Plans change when the four person trip hiking in the Catskills becomes three with Matt’s son dropping out at the last minute. This leaves Sam as the third wheel on the weekend trip. The older men try to do their part to make Sam feel like part of the group, just one of the guys, but the deeper into the weekend the trip takes the more Sam starts to realize that perhaps she doesn’t know her father as well as she thought she did.

“Good One” unfolds in such a matter of fact manner that it is easy to just get lost in the journey. But throughout there is this sense of unease as we watch everything unfold through Sam’s eyes. The men slowly let their guard down, sharing their regrets and shattered dreams – maybe more than they should.

Then something happens that is best left unsaid, expect that it is a moment where Donaldson’s script shows its hands in almost jaw-dropping fashion and newcomer Collias plays off that moment establishing her work as some of the best – and most subtle – of anyone this year.

After that moment, it is clear everything has changed for these three characters forever. Donaldson’s script doesn’t offer any simple answers, lingering in the complexity of the situation quite effectively.

This is a film that lets the audience decide for itself what happens next – leaving the door open for some post screening conversations that could well be just as raw and real as the film they just experienced.

If You Go
“Good One”
Starring: Lily Collias, James Le Gros
Directed by: India Donaldson
Rating: R for language
Playing at: Belcourt Theater in Nashville
Grade: A-