A slow-burn, slice-of-life drama about the lasting effects of trauma and the agonisingly slow road to recovery. A delightful bit of introspective cinema that highlights friendship and platonic intimacy over the usual cliche'd romance as the ailment to all our problems. Causeway does the delightful thing of slowly opening these characters lives through passing dialogue and insightful conversation, highlighting what has lead these two characters to their respective places that aren't so different, even if the path to get there was wildly far apart. Great piece of contemporary drama with stellar performances from Lawrence and Henry, so much is conveyed with so little and really helps the delivery of this sensitive movie. Some will probably bemoan that "nothing happens" upon completion of this movie, but I'd argue that is the entire point; these characters are contemplating and stewing on what has lead them here and how to move on. It is a character first drama, and if you're not prepared to sit back and understand the nuances of these people, you'll probably have a bad time. For me, this was some stellar drama with a fresh angle highlighting friendship instead of romance as the crutch that can keep us going in the darkest times in life. It possibly lacks a layer of depth to make it truly great, but what there is here is very good stuff for the right audience. Really good stuff indeed.

--- Spoiler filled musings beyond this point that might be off-base ---

[spoiler]I'm still trying to fully place the metaphor of pools and large bodies of water throughout the movie. I assumed they were representive of the brain/mind; gunking up and filling with moss/trash/rubbish that life throws in that we must continually clear ourselves of to stay functional and clear. Only then, much like at the end of the movie when Lynsey dives into the public pool, are we able to dive in amongst everyone else and lead a stable life? [/spoiler]

[spoiler]The truck is also symbolic of Lynsey I suppose, giving herself over to James to work on her while she's broken down. The parts to fix her might not be in the town she grew up in, but the people can find them from else where to get her back up and running? Maybe a stretch but I like it as an allegory. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]I liked the constant reminder of "matching pairs", with Lynsey playing Memory a few times throughout. Lynsey and James obviously being the main matching pair, but also their parents, Lynsey and her brother being equally ruined by their upbringing, both of them having crutches to deal with everything etc. I'd be intrigued to see if there are any other dualities throughout the movie to pull out. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]It's very obvious but I enjoyed how, while Afghanistan and the bombing were obviously the main catalyst for Lynsey's issues, it's heavily implied that the unstable, rocky upbringing probably had more of a hand in her instability than the IED. While it was probably the bomb that demolished the camels back (so to speak), the uneven foundation of her childhood clearly made it much harder for her to get back on equal footing with no support system in place. As someone with very "hands off" parents, this resonated with me more than I expected and made my stomach drop a few times during the scenes with her Mom. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]Unlike other movies, I was also happy to see that the movie was critical of Lynsey and her coping mechanism for her trauma too. Many of these drama films only navigate the trauma from the perspective of the main character and never usually question if their actions are justified or correct. While running away is a very easy fix, staying and being compassionate is the harder, but ultimately righteous choice that will probably lead to sustained stability and growth. We assume Lynsey will run after she/her truck have been fixed, but she finally sees that she cannot keep running and must stay to fix the wounds that are there. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]I look forward to reading all the Reddit analysis and essays that come from this movie that prove me wrong or highlight things that I missed :smile: [/spoiler]