Through a bleak and gray photograph, portraying powerfully believable faces, the story of Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) comes to life, a seventeen-year-old who makes responsibility her foremost value.

She has a catatonic mother, two young siblings, and a father who is only present to create problems. She risks losing the poor house in the woods of one of Missouri's poorest counties because her father used it as collateral for issues related to crack dealing.

If he does not show up at the hearing, there will be no extensions, and Ree must find him at all costs.

She embarks on a long search filled with reticence and barriers driven by ignorance and extreme poverty.

"But don't you have a man to do these things for you?" one of the many people Ree bravely turns to for answers will ask her.

The only man is her missing father, the source of all her problems. Ree does not have a man, but she doesn't need one. She is unstoppable, courageous in any situation, while the men, when present, deal drugs, kill, get drunk, disappear.

Meanwhile, women like Ree shoot to hunt, cook, take care of others, chop wood, and when necessary, fight. "Kneel as if you were praying," Ree says while teaching her little brother to shoot squirrels to skin and cook for lunch.

She will also try to join the army to support her family, but she will not be allowed. The girl, who never hints at a smile, will try everything. There is no space or time; she must find her father, dead or alive.

Only through female complicity, with a boat and a chainsaw, will one witness one of the most gruesome and effective scenes in cinema.

At a time when women need to be portrayed in this way, this film seems like a neo-feminist manifesto, a film that decrees the female figure as an expression of the ethics of responsibility and care.

If responsibility essentially means response, it is through the response that a choice is made, and thus a decision is realized.

In this case, through the figure of Ree, Debra Granik manages to provide an excellent cinematic response, demonstrating the effectiveness of a great realization.

An undeniable Oscar nomination for Jennifer Lawrence, not to be missed.

26-Jun-2023 by Beatrice