Winter's Bone

A young woman, Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), takes care of her two younger siblings and an invalid mother in a tiny house on a rural clearing in the Ozarks. The town’s sheriff comes to the door to tell her that her meth-cook father has been released on bail and has put the family home up as collateral. Ree sets out to find him. What makes this movie fulfilling and moving and not an oppressive slog? It is powerfully cathartic when a character like Ree doesn’t break or bend, and the filmmakers refuse to wallow in the tragic details of her life as they follow her to hell and back. Winter’s Bone has a story, not an agenda. Lawrence’s performance will be talked about again come Oscar time. See the film now and be ahead of the curve this winter. –Hillary Titley