Stillwater is a slow but compelling drama aided by a great lead performance from Matt Damon. The first half was superior in my opinion with the second turning into a sort of lite version of Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners. The cinematography was great at times, obviously aided by the beautiful scenery of the South France coast and I also liked the original score, although it faded a bit towards the end. Abigail Breslin's wonky performance was definitely one of the weak links of the film. At times she was good, but at others she was utterly unconvincing and definitely took me out of the film. One of the strongest aspects was the relationship between Damon's character and the young French girl Maya, who was played superbly by Lilou Siauvaud in her film debut.
While not great, Stillwater is still a very solid film that is definitely worth checking out. Just don't go in expecting a tense and high octane thriller rather than a more slow and methodical character study.
While not great, Stillwater is still a very solid film that is definitely worth checking out. Just don't go in expecting a tense and high octane thriller rather than a more slow and methodical character study.