Director - India Donaldson

During a hiking trip with her dad (James Le Gros) and his best friend (Danny McCarthy), Sam (Lily Collias) finds herself at a distance with the machismo attitudes of the older generation.

A weekend hike is a competition. Whilst Sam (Lily Collias), quietly looks at the woodland scenery around her, taking it all in, the shots of her father, Chris (James Le Gros), and his best friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy) are loud in comparison as they make their final preparations before properly setting off on the walk.

Rips and clatters display a noisy seriousness from the pair as if the weekend is less about letting loose and more about holding on to something.

As the trio meet a group of young men on their own hike, one of many which have taken them around the world, Chris' face is washed with resentment. He and Matt seem to instantly hold something, or more likely multiple things, against the group and much of it seems to be immediately based on a generational divide.

While they display far less subtlety than they may be thinking, although the performances behind them are quite the opposite, writer-director India Donaldson's feature debut is packed with it. Sam is gay and thinking about going to college, what could be three days of reconnecting with her father - after a distance has formed following on from his divorce from Sam's mum and quickly moving on to a much younger partner who he has a baby with - leads her to feel at odds with the machismo behaviour and internalisation on display.

Led by a fantastic performance from Collias, often shown in close-up or alone in the middle of the natural surroundings, this is less a coming-of-age film, as many have put it, and more a quiet character study as Sam's plans for a calm weekend face a generational and gender gap. Meticulously observed by Donaldson and understood by her cast there's a compelling set of events unfolding from start to finish.

The hesitant divide is set out early on as Matt arrives at the car, having just argued with his son who was meant to come along. From there everyday frustrations begin to appear in the older pair as life hasn't handed them their preferred cars in the last year or two - leading them to look back on their whole lives, to some degree.

Matt's eventually uneasy behaviour round a fire is dismissed by Chris when his daughter tells him what happened. It's here where extra layers are brought to Collias' performance, as the one character who has effectively externalised thoughts and feelings, at least to herself, does so even more.

It's what much of Good One starts to revolve around, externalising and holding in feelings in addition to a generational gap. Effectively detailed and engaging in its quietness, this is an intelligent and in-touch drama which never loses sight of where its main character sees herself in the world.

Four stars.