Land 

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• Photo Courtesy Of Big Beach Films
• LEARNING TO LAUGH AGAIN After a personal tragedy, Edee (Robin Wright, who also directs), no longer able to stand being around others, decides to live off the grid in a remote cabin, but after winter hits and she almost dies, through the help of Miguel (Demián Birchir), she discovers life goes on, in Land, on HBO Max.

What's it rated? PG-13

When? 2021

Where's it showing? HBO Max

Directed by and starring Robin Wright, this quiet and introspective film follows Edee's self-imposed exile in the woods following the tragic and sudden loss of her family. She has a simple cabin and some land, but no idea how to survive. It seems like a suicide mission, perhaps willing herself to die of starvation alone.

She's near death from the cold and hunger when Miguel (Demián Bichir) finds her and brings in Alawa (Sarah Dawn Pledge), a nurse who cares for her. Once well, and though cautious of any sort of friendship, Edee asks Miguel to teach her how to hunt and fish, and soon the two start to unfold their complicated and painful pasts to each other, which bear more similarities than Edee could have imagined. She soon learns the ways of the mountain and how to use the land to her advantage.

She's beginning to heal and have confidence in her ability to keep herself alive, but when Miguel leaves his faithful dog with her and fails to return, Edee makes the hard choice to head into town. It's foreign to her after all of her solitude, and Wright does a great job as a filmmaker conveying how the lights and sounds of even a small town scare and overwhelm Edee. It's a movie in which not a whole lot happens, but Wright cuts to the emotional quick and offers up a small but bright glimmer of hope at healing. If you've got HBO, this one is definitely worth a watch at home. (89 min.)