Land is a lovely and quietly contemplative film where not very much “happens”… but that’s ok. It’s not the kind of movie that demands dramatic action scenes of strength and survival, melodrama, or constant threats. It’s a movie about a woman finding herself again and that’s a very internalized concept with a script that doesn’t have characters open their mouths and recite the theme.

The film stars (and was directed by) Robin Wright as a woman who has suffered a personal loss and can’t see herself living around people any longer. So she buys a cabin and moves out into the wilderness and has to learn how to survive, to live off the land, and whether or not she wants to do either.

It’s a woman-vs-herself film with the star being Wright and the gorgeous landscapes she inhabits. The mountains and the trees are every bit a star of the show as the humans (and the dog). It’s a gorgeous film that takes its time to revel in the natural world as a way to show personal growth and contemplation. She’s smaller than the world but that’s ok.

There are plenty of “man vs. nature” movies that are more dramatic and maybe even more inspirational. This isn’t those films and that might not work for everyone. It worked slowly on me… feeling a little slow up until the point I realized I was invested. That I cared about her personal journey. And that’s when I realized this was a special movie and not just a bunch of navel gazing at mountains. Not for everyone maybe, but it worked on me.

Score: 85