BWFF: Little Woods

(2018) dir Nia DeCosta w/Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Lance Reddick, James Badge Dale [105 min; DCP]

LITTLE WOODS is a neo-western drama set in the heart of today’s America. Ollie (Thompson) is barely making ends meet in economically depressed Little Woods, a fracking boomtown in North Dakota, by selling coffee out of the back of her truck at local job sites. She has less than a month left on her probation. Probation she received for helping the local residents access drugs and medical help across the border in Canada.

After her mother dies, Ollie learns that the family house has been foreclosed upon and her estranged sister (James) is homeless, living in an RV with her son. In order to help her sister and save their home, Ollie has to return to drug dealing and smuggling. Writer-director Nia DaCosta’s debut is an emotionally-charged feminist western that weaves timely themes of economic downturn and the opioid crisis into its intimate story of two sisters just trying to get by.

Buy 3 or more tickets in advance to any screenings at the Brattle during the Boston Women’s Film Festival and get 15% off of your order! The discount will be applied automatically.