<p>Will, a psychologically fragile Iraq War veteran, lives in the woods of Oregon with his teenage daughter Tom. They are neither homeless nor criminal; like others nearby, they have chosen to live apart from society. But when government rangers force Tom and Will out, they must try to adapt to civilisation and community. LEAVE NO TRACE is the third fiction feature by Debra Granik and, like DOWN TO THE BONE and WINTER’S BONE, it takes an observational, realist approach to an intriguing, marginal aspect of contemporary American life. Its characters are not militant right-wing survivalists shooting guns; they are ordinary, damaged people helping each other to cope. The social workers who intervene by relocating Will and Tom are benevolent; but to live in society means for Will to “eat their food, do their work” – to conform, crushing his freedom. Superbly acted by Foster and McKenzie, and rigorously eschewing any sensationalist possibilities (there is no sex or violence here), LEAVE NO TRACE eventually zeroes in on a universal human&nbsp;drama: the bond between father and daughter, which must ultimately arrive to the painful crossroad of separation, Tom wanting to think and act independently.</p>
