DIRECTOR: Nia DaCosta
PRODUCERS: Rachael Fung, Gabrielle Nadig, Tim Headington
SCREENPLAY: Nia DaCosta
PHOTOGRAPHY: Matt Mitchell
EDITOR: Catrin Hedstrom
MUSIC: Brian McOmber
WITH: Tessa Thompson (Ollie), Lily James (Deb), Luke Kirby (Bill), James Badge Dale (Ian), Lance Reddick (Carter)

FESTIVALS: Tribeca, Mill Valley, Los Angeles 2018

REVIEW

"Little Woods is a gritty thriller set among women on the losing side of the petroleum-drilling boom that was supposed to make America great again. It’s also a western that’s true to the rugged West of today, where the scramble for resources leaves casualties all around…
​
Ollie is about to clear probation for drug dealing in a North Dakota town where oil rigs don’t enrich the locals. She also ran an illegal service bringing medicine across the nearby Canadian border to sick neighbours.
But Ollie’s mother just died, Deb is broke and pregnant, and the bank wants to take back her ramshackle house. With misgivings, Ollie returns to her former trade…

Low-budget Little Woods, in its remote setting, is an x-ray of American ills – opiate crisis, unaffordable health care, rampant energy exploitation, and all the accompanying family problems. At every turn, Ollie and her step-sister find men in the way who want to be paid or supported. An abortion is less expensive than having a baby, but still unaffordable for a single woman (without a few drug deals) and a long trip from home…

DaCosta directs her own script with a tautness in harsh territory that eases only in the final scenes… That border landscape and the smuggling story echo the Oscar-nominated 2008 indie thriller Frozen River, set along Lake Ontario between the US and Canada. There everything crossed illegally on the frozen lake, especially illegal immigrants. As in Little Woods, women were the smugglers.
​
Today, with an expanded drug trade and a tighter controls on Mexico, the once-sleepy northern US border is a stage for plenty of new drama. Little Woods, DaCosta’s first feature, won’t be the last that we see to be set there. We’ll also be seeing more from Thompson and from DaCosta."

— Screen Daily

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Whanganui   
Monday, 12 July, 7:00pm
WHANGANUI FILM SOCIETY schedule >>