#REVIEW: “STILLWATER”

By Mr. Will Wong

Academy Award winner Tom McCarthy is back with STILLWATER, which he wrote and directed, delivering a riveting story with a deep well of emotion, despite some implausibilities.

The Film explores Bill Baker’s (Matt Damon) journey to visit his daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin), jailed for the murder of her lover Lina while going off to study for a year in Marseille, France. While Bill‘s visit initially was to check-in on Allison, the story moves along when Allison makes a plea to her lawyer to re-open her case based on hearsay that could potentially acquit her of the crime. Along the way, Bill meets a single mother named Virginie (Camille Cottin) and her young daughter Maya (Lilou Siauvaud).

Bill gets invested, taking matters into his own hands finding Lina‘s murderer, getting help from the most unlikely of places. He strikes a strong emotional connection to Virginie and Maya. As Bill gets dangerously-close to finding the true culprit, this could jeopardize everything between him, Virginie, Maya and his daughter’s cause.

Damon disappears completely into Bill, physically and emotionally giving us some of his best work in recent years here as a father struggling to do what’s right, even if it means exploring behaviours which potentially could sabotage everything.  He is flawed and while his past demons are mentioned often enough, we don’t see this approached as delicately as we would have hoped for someone battling his past.  Breslin takes each moment she’s given and really puts her best foot forward giving us dramatic range as a young woman holding onto hope for justice, yet also grieving in her own way and navigating reconciliation with her estranged father. The Film however, truly belongs to Cottin and Siauvaud and the chemistry their share between themselves as mother and daughter, and also with Bill. There are genuinely heartfelt moments in the Film that are ever apparent if there are cultural barriers between the characters. Siauvaud sees the world with wonder but also approaches the world with astonishing polish for a then eight-year-old Actress.

While it does feel that McCarthy has things happening a little too conveniently to move the plot along, he manages well to take the Film’s Third Act and make it into something intense and riveting, as we meditate on the Film’s themes of love and loss through both Bill’s and Allison‘s eyes.

Focus Features release STILLWATER in theatres July 30, 2021.

*Please ensure you exercise caution in observing COVID-19 protocols if seeing this in-theatre*