FemmeFilmFest20 Review: Little Woods (Nia DaCosta)

Though called Crossing the Line in the UK, Little Woods is the debut film from Nia DaCosta. Released two years ago, the drama sees Tessa Thompson and Lily James as sisters trying to make ends meet in a world that is becoming increasingly hard to do so.

Little Woods works based on the power of the three women at it’s heart. As director DaCosta shows why she was picked to helm a sequel to both Candyman and Captain Marvel, mixing a visual eye that really draws you in to a sense of place with a character drama that never stops drawing you in.

DaCosta’s composition of shots give you a sense of place, it feels like you’re at the end of the world, that landscapes have taken over where you would expect houses and stores to be. What works here, is that as you see these people navigate the complexity of life, the landscape remains barren, offering little in the way of a singular place. There are places like this in every country across the world, unfinished landscapes of manual labour that have come to prey on the poor of the US.

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In the lead role Tessa Thompson is sublime. While she’s often been relegated to a supporting player in other works, here she shows what she can do when given a lead role to sink her teeth into. Despite her small frame, she fills the screen with the strength of her presence, and as Ollie she gets a role worthy of her talents. The strength of the writing helps, but when it comes to just moments of quiet, Thompson is able to convey a woman trying to make sense of the world and what she needs to do.

Lily James, similarly, is impeccable. All too often cast in period costume dramas, or as quirky love interests, here she shows a darker more down-to-earth side of her ability as Deb. Always seeming on the verge of tears, her stressed out single mother looking for an out seems to be one that could have fallen into a sub-Precious style pregnant-girl-in-trouble story. But DaCosta doesn’t let the ongoing abortion storyline swamp what is a story of two sisters struggling against a forgotten part of the world.

What works is the social commentary, it’s never in your face, but it exists as something in the world. The fact that the cost of having a child in the US is astronomical, and that the process of an abortion is hard, the film manages to convey the desperation of these women without ever falling into leering or sufferance. James’ Deb wants to have an abortion because having a baby and raising them is too expensive as she already has one, the clinic is too far crossing to Canada to forge one is the safer route.

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The look into the drug trade, and abortion business, also allows DaCosta to make observations about how women are treated. A particularly nasty scene where Deb attempts to get a backdoor abortion is harrowing without ever being violent or explicit. While the plight of Thompson’s Ollie to make a living for her sister and her desire not to get arrested again for drug smuggling, talks to the US’ medical community.

Little Woods doesn’t offer easy explanations or solutions, opting instead to maintain the air of mystery and of realism. It’s with this that the film casts it’s spell. At no point do you feel like this isn’t a genuine film about people. And despite the name actors in it, you feel like you are watching something that has the smack of authenticity. If DaCosta can bring this to both Candyman and Captain Marvel, cinema is in for a real treat.