The Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy
Nola grew up living on a van with her father, Clint; two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past and her new destination.
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What critics compared The Short History of the Long Road to
As The Short History initially hits the road, it echoes 2018’s haunting Leave No Trace , introducing another off-the-grid father-daughter team.
In that regard, the well-taught and self-sufficient Nola, gifted especially in car mechanics like her dad, could be a spiritual sister of Thomasin McKenzie’s character in Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace,” another unassuming cinematic ode to those who live on the high-stakes fringes of American civilization.
Although some people might think this movie is similar to the 2018 film “Leave No Trace” (another grim story about a homeless, paranoid father raising his teenage daughter outside of the norms of society), “The Short History of the Long Road” is not the same kind of movie because it’s not as depressing as “Leave No Trace.”
But this isn’t the story of a young woman who resents her free-spirited, irresponsible dad, like the children of the characters played by Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic and Ben Foster in Leave No Trace .
Like Viggo Mortensen’s wildly unconventional father in “Captain Fantastic” (2016) and Ben Foster’s wildly unconventional father in “Leave No Trace” (2018), who raised their children off the grid and on the outskirts of civilization, Steven Ogg’s wildly unconventional father in “The Short History of the Long Road” is leading his teenage daughter down that same path.
Like Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy or Granik's Leave No Trace, this low-key drama focuses on a regional American woman trying to sustain herself through rough economic and emotional times.
But this isn’t the story of a young woman who resents her free-spirited, irresponsible dad, like the children of the characters played by Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic and Ben Foster in Leave No Trace .
Like Viggo Mortensen’s wildly unconventional father in “Captain Fantastic” (2016) and Ben Foster’s wildly unconventional father in “Leave No Trace” (2018), who raised their children off the grid and on the outskirts of civilization, Steven Ogg’s wildly unconventional father in “The Short History of the Long Road” is leading his teenage daughter down that same path.
Dad’s not in the picture long, but there’s a “Captain Fantastic” element to the portrayal.
It’s a perfect companion piece to other stories about Americans living on the outskirts of a society that has either abandoned them (“Leave No Trace“) or one in which they find it too constraining to survive (“Captain Fantastic”).