Leave No Trace
Will (Ben Foster), an Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD, lives with his 13-year-old daughter, Tom (Thomasin McKenzie), in a public park inside Portland, Oregon. They live in almost total isolation,…
Leave No Trace
Will (Ben Foster), an Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD, lives with his 13-year-old daughter, Tom (Thomasin McKenzie), in a public park inside Portland, Oregon. They live in almost total isolation, only entering town for occasional food and supplies. They live off the jungle and have an extremely minimalist lifestyle. Will and Tom work really well together and Tom is very capable of taking care of herself and carrying her own in the jungle. They avoid human contact as much as possible. Will makes Tom perform drills on how to hide herself in the words and to cover her tracks. Will makes their money by selling his VA-issued painkillers to other veterans. Will is plagued by nightmares from his time serving in the war. Tom uses her spare time to study books that she picks up in the city. After Tom is accidentally spotted in the woods by a jogger, officers arrest them (Will and Tom try to hide in the words, but the officers had come with sniffer dogs and hence were discovered very quickly) and place them into social services. They are assessed and Tom is found to be educationally advanced for her age despite not attending school. The social services refuse to understand that the tent in the woods is Tom's home and classify her and Will as homeless. Social services case worker Jean Bauer (Dana Millican) is really interested in Tom's welfare. Jean says that Will needs to provide an acceptable shelter for Tom. She also determines if Tom has been sexually abused by Will in any way. Will wants to go back to the park, but social services refuses. They are given food and a house on a Christmas tree farm in rural Oregon, on the condition that Will abides by the rules of the homeowner Mr. Walters (Jeff Kober). Will begrudgingly begin to work on the settlement packaging pine trees. Tom is enrolled in the local school. Tom interacts with local kids her age in a 4H club (FFA, or the Future Farmers of America, a club where teenagers learn about animals and agriculture). They attend church together and Tom really enjoys the social interactions. Will feels oppressed by others' presence and tells Tom they are returning to the woods. Will says that he doesn't want anything to do with the rules of the outside world, while Tom says that they can be part of society and still have their own independent thoughts. One morning Will suddenly decides to leave. Tom follows reluctantly as she was starting to enjoy her new life. They return to their camp in the park but find it has been destroyed. Tom feels that Will did not try hard enough to adjust to his life in society. Will and Tom try to travel in a railroad boxcar, and then in a bus, but eventually catch a ride with a trucker who takes them to Washington state and drops them off, in a remote forest area. The new forest area is at a higher altitude and hence much colder. Cold and darkness (they were expecting to find some vacant cabins in the woods, and then Tom's boots started leaking. Tom gets really tired and is unable to walk any further) force them to build a temporary forest survival shelter for the night. The next day they discover a vacant cabin and move in. Will leaves to find food but does not return. The next morning, Tom discovers him unconscious at the bottom of a ravine with a seriously injured foot. As Tom cannot pull Will by herself, she gets help from local Quad bikers, who take them to their mobile home community. Tom refuses to let Will be taken to a hospital and says that Will doesn't like to be asked questions. Dale (Dale Dickey), a local woman, calls a friend who is a former Army medic to treat Will's injury. Will escapes any major injury, but his foot will require time to heal properly. The medic says that eventually, Will be able to walk again. Will and Tom are given an empty trailer in the community while Will's injuries heal. The medic also suffers from PTSD and lends his service dog to help Will with his nightmares. A local teaches Tom about the beehives. Tom likes their new home and tries to make a rental agreement with Dale, the trailer's owner, without telling Will. Eventually, Will insists they leave. Tom protests, telling him "The same thing that's wrong with you isn't wrong with me". After leaving the RV community, Tom stops and says to Will, "I know you would stay if you could". They tearfully hug and part ways. Tom returns to the trailer community, and Will returns to the woods. Later, Tom hangs a food package in the forest for Will to find.
Leave No Trace
Adventure,Drama
Film Details
Will (Ben Foster), an Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD, lives with his 13-year-old daughter, Tom (Thomasin McKenzie), in a public park inside Portland, Oregon. They live in almost total isolation, only entering town for occasional food and supplies. They live off the jungle and have an extremely minimalist lifestyle.
Will and Tom work really well together and Tom is very capable of taking care of herself and carrying her own in the jungle. They avoid human contact as much as possible. Will makes Tom perform drills on how to hide herself in the words and to cover her tracks.
Will makes their money by selling his VA-issued painkillers to other veterans. Will is plagued by nightmares from his time serving in the war. Tom uses her spare time to study books that she picks up in the city.
After Tom is accidentally spotted in the woods by a jogger, officers arrest them (Will and Tom try to hide in the words, but the officers had come with sniffer dogs and hence were discovered very quickly) and place them into social services. They are assessed and Tom is found to be educationally advanced for her age despite not attending school. The social services refuse to understand that the tent in the woods is Tom's home and classify her and Will as homeless.
Social services case worker Jean Bauer (Dana Millican) is really interested in Tom's welfare. Jean says that Will needs to provide an acceptable shelter for Tom. She also determines if Tom has been sexually abused by Will in any way.
Will wants to go back to the park, but social services refuses. They are given food and a house on a Christmas tree farm in rural Oregon, on the condition that Will abides by the rules of the homeowner Mr. Walters (Jeff Kober).
Will begrudgingly begin to work on the settlement packaging pine trees. Tom is enrolled in the local school. Tom interacts with local kids her age in a 4H club (FFA, or the Future Farmers of America, a club where teenagers learn about animals and agriculture).
They attend church together and Tom really enjoys the social interactions. Will feels oppressed by others' presence and tells Tom they are returning to the woods. Will says that he doesn't want anything to do with the rules of the outside world, while Tom says that they can be part of society and still have their own independent thoughts.
One morning Will suddenly decides to leave. Tom follows reluctantly as she was starting to enjoy her new life. They return to their camp in the park but find it has been destroyed.
Tom feels that Will did not try hard enough to adjust to his life in society. Will and Tom try to travel in a railroad boxcar, and then in a bus, but eventually catch a ride with a trucker who takes them to Washington state and drops them off, in a remote forest area. The new forest area is at a higher altitude and hence much colder.
Cold and darkness (they were expecting to find some vacant cabins in the woods, and then Tom's boots started leaking. Tom gets really tired and is unable to walk any further) force them to build a temporary forest survival shelter for the night. The next day they discover a vacant cabin and move in.
Will leaves to find food but does not return. The next morning, Tom discovers him unconscious at the bottom of a ravine with a seriously injured foot. As Tom cannot pull Will by herself, she gets help from local Quad bikers, who take them to their mobile home community.
Tom refuses to let Will be taken to a hospital and says that Will doesn't like to be asked questions. Dale (Dale Dickey), a local woman, calls a friend who is a former Army medic to treat Will's injury. Will escapes any major injury, but his foot will require time to heal properly.
The medic says that eventually, Will be able to walk again. Will and Tom are given an empty trailer in the community while Will's injuries heal. The medic also suffers from PTSD and lends his service dog to help Will with his nightmares.
A local teaches Tom about the beehives. Tom likes their new home and tries to make a rental agreement with Dale, the trailer's owner, without telling Will. Eventually, Will insists they leave.
Tom protests, telling him "The same thing that's wrong with you isn't wrong with me". After leaving the RV community, Tom stops and says to Will, "I know you would stay if you could". They tearfully hug and part ways.
Tom returns to the trailer community, and Will returns to the woods. Later, Tom hangs a food package in the forest for Will to find..