The Unknown Country
The Unknown Country
An unexpected invitation rushes a grieving young woman into a lonely road trip through the American Midwest towards the border between Texas and Mexico.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 2, 2025
Meditative road trip film featuring some breathtaking scenery as Lily Gladstone across the American Midwest in part to grieve the loss of her grandmother and reconnect with her roots. There a unique mix of both documentary style filmmaking with the narrative style. As Gladstone’s Tana, meets various people along her journey, these people are presented in documentary style soliloquies, usually providing some history as to how they ended up where they are today. The mixing of reality and narrative feels very much akin to Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland. Political talk radio frequently invades the otherwise blissful silences of the picturesque vistas. Though it’s meandering nature seems more concerned with evoking a feeling over telling a story, Gladstone’s quiet reflective aura and Mona Lisa smile feels like the perfect anchor for this film. In the span of one year she has become an actress that I will plan to watch every project in which she’s involved.