Directed By Lila Neugebauer

Starring – Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry, Linda Emond

The Plot – A US soldier (Lawrence) suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home.

Rated R for some adult language, sexual references and drug use.

Causeway — Official Trailer | Apple TV+ – YouTube

POSITIVES

Many films have attempted to articulate the captivity and frailty associated with Post traumatic stress, but very few with the kind of circumstantial depth and candidness of that of “Causeway”, the debut feature length direction from Neugebauer, who more times than not vividly conveys the isolation factor of the predicament with character psychologies that feel very lived-in with abstraction. Tastefulness is the key here, as Lila refuses to exploit these characters for the sake of dramatic impulses, and instead chooses to use their actions and reactions as a key to the lock of insightful knowledge that paints their devastating pasts in ways that we the audience can coherently interpret without downright living through them. Part of this quality is certainly in the strength of the performances themselves, with the remarkable restraint of Lawrence conjuring an honesty and intensity to stillness as Lynsey that subtly inspires the frustrations of the captivity within her, and the emotional heavy-lifting from Henry concealing life-defining grief in ways that should easily earn him his first Oscar nominated role. However, the bigger picture and film’s greatest strength easily lies in the bond between them, which feels romantic without the kind of physicality that materializes like a requirement in films starring two characters of opposing genders. The dialogue between them, as well as throughout the rest of the film, is ripe with nuance, refusing flashback sequences and heavy-handed intentions for lingering depictions in framing that psychologically conveys something deeper lurking just beneath the surface, and when combined with the impeccable chemistry of their candor, illustrates two characters with a lot of diversity in their grief, despite each of them suffering from essentially the same cause. This is also easily my favorite kind of exposition in cinema because it invokes with it a greater sense of importance to your investment, almost requiring you to hang onto every word and interaction so as not to miss out on a deeper sense of purpose with the topical subject in the context of the character discussing it. Aside from these elements, the production is equally effective in fleshing out the disposition, with a somberly haunting score from Alex Somers and immersive sound deposits from shape-shifting mixing that often transcribes introspective insight to the confines of the character in depiction. In particular, during sequences involving Lynsey in her surrounding environment, amplifications of car horns honking or echoing voices nonchalantly convey a jaded displacement with her integration back into society, providing emphasis for even the easiest tasks feeling like a mountain when balanced with the perils of her psychological debilitation frequently defining her. This makes the homecoming environment of Lynsey feel so compromising and alienating from how she once left it, painting a discourse from within her that Neugebauer paints with every environmental conflict, all the while alluding to trauma feeling resurrected in the people and places Lynsey left, instead of where her journey eventually took her. Because of such, Lila’s tone feels appropriate, and her 90-minute run time keeps the story consistently moving through the more challenging first act in ways that maintain that gripping essence in watching Lynsey struggle with the actions that we as a society take for granted every single day.

NEGATIVES

While the subdued nature of the storytelling did certify an endearing quality of nuance to the abundance of the information its characters are constantly left to convey in their performances, the evolution of the story itself did feel slightly bland and inconsequential with an ending that left much to be desired. The easiest problem here is that the film ends abruptly, leaving us in the middle of a monumental sequence that serves as the catalyst for a fresh start between the duo of its characters, but the greater hinderance for me was in the unnecessity of its cliched third act distancing, which compresses the third act in ways that keep it from flowing naturally like the rest of the story. In this particular area of the film, the storytelling does begin to feel tedious with repetition, as well as saturated with convenience, leaving Lynsey’s rehabilitation realized in ways that, unlike the dialogue, required us being shown instead of being told. Likewise, a subplot involving her mother is pretty much entirely forgotten and lacking the kind of confrontation that felt initially hinted at, but eventually unrealized with disappointing potential. This is exactly a contradiction from the first hour of this film, which as aforementioned was ripe with subtleties and nuances in its storytelling and acting, but here allows some of that sedated momentum to slip in with creative actions that provide emphasis for a lack of confidence within the consistency of its creativity.

OVERALL
“Causeway” is a tepid and occasionally languid exercise in storytelling, but its subdued sentiments give way to a natural essence in dialogue and interaction that gift-wrap two of the best performances in the careers of Lawrence and Henry, all the while articulating the poignancy and harsh realities of PTSD. Though it’s not exactly a dramatic heavyweight of intensity, the film is meaningful nonetheless, certifying a much-needed insight and urgency to those who make the ultimate sacrifice, on or off of domestic soil.

My Grade: 8/10 or B