Causeway (2022) Review

Time: 92 Minutes
Age Rating:
Cast:
Jennifer Lawrence as Lynsey
Brian Tyree Henry as James Aucoin
Linda Emond as Gloria
Jayne Houdyshell as Sharon
Stephen McKinley Henderson as Dr. Lucas
Russell Harvard as Justin
Director: Lila Neugebauer

Lynsey, a U.S. soldier, experiences a traumatic brain injury during her tour in Afghanistan which forces her to return home. She struggles to return to her daily life with her mother as she waits for her eventual redeployment.

I heard some good things about Causeway. It was an Apple TV movie that was something of an awards contender and ended up getting a best supporting actor nomination for Brian Tyree Henry. I found it to be a pretty good small and intimate drama.

The script is straightforward and minimalist, with a rather predictable story. The initial premise is that Jennifer Lawrence is a soldier who is recovering from PTSD in her hometown. On the whole though, it’s fairly plotless and is more like a collection of interactions strung together. However, it worked for me and it developed quite well over time. It is a movie about broken people, specifically two broken people in Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry’s characters, as they are trying to piece their lives back together. While there’s plenty of these types of movies every year, Causeway handles the subject matter well, and doesn’t over-dramatise its depiction of trauma. It is sincere and doesn’t feel like it’s shooting for awards. It is slow but it didn’t drag, and this slow burn approach and the very quiet nature of the movie really worked for the story.

The acting is quiet, subtle and powerful, and it mostly comes down to Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry, both of whom give great and believable performances. Their dynamic and friendship is the highlight of the movie, and both of them felt very authentic as their characters.

Lila Neugebauer’s debut with Causeway is solid. Her direction is strong and very deliberate: it’s beautifully shot and benefits from a melancholic and understated score from Alex Somer.

Causeway is a nuanced, subtle and quietly powerful drama and character study, with two incredible performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry. I really do think it’s worth checking out, even just for the acting.

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