Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A woman with a tragic past decides to start her new life by hiking for one thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Reese Witherspoon delivers a career-best performance anchoring an emotionally raw character study. The Pacific Crest Trail cinematography is stunning, capturing both the brutal and sublime aspects of the wilderness. The non-linear storytelling device of memory flashbacks is competent but familiar in biographical dramas, and the ending, while emotionally resonant, feels somewhat predictable in its cathartic resolution. The film is distinguished more by its execution and lead performance than by narrative originality.