10 Gripping Neo-Noirs You Must See Before You Die
3. Winter's Bone
From the punishing heat of the Australian outback to the bitter, penetrating cold of Missouri's Ozark Plateau, Winter's Bone is an unrelentingly grim exploration of poverty, abandonment and family ties. Jennifer Lawrence has her breakthrough role here as Ree Dolly, and it's arguably the best performance she's ever given.
Looking after her mentally ill mother and two young siblings, Ree's life consists of helping her destitute family survive with little to no means of providing for themselves. Her father, a meth cook who has not been seen for some time, is revealed to have skipped bail following an arrest - and their house is on the line having been put up as part of his bond. Fearing that they will be turfed out with nowhere to go, Ree sets out across the meth-ravaged countryside to piece together any clues to his fate.
Ree's journey pits her against distant family members, coming face-to-face with the harsh realities of life and death in a neglected backwater, where blown-out meth labs punctuate cracked highways and dying woodland. Winter's Bone forces the viewer to confront a dire existence they'd rather be blissfully ignorant of, and leaves them with a lingering, haunting feeling of chilly loneliness.