Culture

Directed by Debra Granik. 4/5
Winter’s Bone isn’t by any stretch of the imagination a feel-good movie. That said, those of you who can stomach the ceaselessly grey skies, endlessly bleak atmosphere and uncomfortable realism of an American South steeped in meth addiction are in for a real treat.
Winter’s Bone centers on 17-year old Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), a teenager struggling to raise her two younger siblings in the depressing, poverty stricken Ozark Mountains. With no help from a catatonic mother, the task falls upon Ree to track down her meth dealing father, who has offered up the family house as bond, and present him at court or else forfeit what little they have to call a home. The journey takes her into the seamy underbelly of the meth trade plaguing rural America and subjects her to the violence of people who are willing to go to any lengths in order to thwart her search and save their own skin.
Despite the overwhelmingly gloomy atmosphere of the film, it is hard not to enjoy a picture that captures you so entirely in the telling of its story. The acting is spot on and the cast superb. Director Debra Granik has handled this film with extreme care and stopped it riding off the rails and becoming yet another bleak but ultimately forgettable tale. You get the feeling that the narrative told is only a microcosm of a much larger problem. I highly recommend seeing the film.