First impressions of The Unknown Country
The warmth of Lily Gladstone's lead performance gives this low-key road movie a glow that will stay with you for a long time after the credits roll.
Caution: Avoid the trailer for The Unknown Country. I'm so grateful I didn't see it before I saw the movie. It's basically a highlight reel of most of the movie's best shots. And I can tell you from experience, those images are best discovered in their intended context.
As the ticket-scanner at SIFF’s Uptown Cinemas checks my ticket for the 4:45 screening of The Unknown Country, he says, "Do you realize that if you come right back for the evening showing, you’ll get to see writer-director Morissa Waltz, the lead actress Lily Gladstone, and the co-writer Vanara Taing for an in-person Q& A?"
Oh.
No. No, I didn’t know. And as I cannot come back later, thank you for spoiling my afternoon. Dang. Dang dang dang dang. That's a five-dang bummer.
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So, that happened.
And now, on the other side of seeing the film I feel the sting of missing out on that conversation. I would have had so many questions. And I would have wanted to thank all three artists for giving me one of the most human and heartening experiences I’ve had at the movies all year.