“Leave No Trace” isn’t the only movie to earn the desired 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s worth noting that the indie drama has more reviews than its counterparts. For comparison sake, “Leave No Trace” has 252 reviews, while “Toy Story” has 171. The quantity of reviews is worth considering, but this technicality also shouldn’t detract from the fact that critics loved Debra Granik’s film.
Some reviewers were impressed by the film’s intimate qualities, as well as its humane portrayal of outsiders. Claudia Puig of FilmWeek wrote that “Leave No Trace” is a human story that refrains from passing judgment on its troubled main characters. Rachel Stecher of Quelle Movies echoed this sentiment, adding that the movie doesn’t rely on exposition to fill in the father and daughter’s backstories.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Sandra Hall praised “Leave No Trace” for being an intense experience that doesn’t have to resort to violent sequences to keep viewers engaged. The reviewer also singled out Thomasin McKenzie’s strong performance, claiming that it convinces viewers to buy into elements of the story that could be difficult to accept in lesser hands.
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