Causeway Review

The Hurt Locker, American Sniper, and Thank You for Your Service are some modern films that’ve explored life after war. Causeway stands out from those movies in numerous ways. To begin, it centers on a female veteran. Several films have explored women in the military, from Private Benjamin to Camp X-Ray. Other than 2011’s Return starring Linda Cardellini, though, not many have dealt with the struggles of coming home. While Causeway could be classified as a war movie, we never see any characters in combat. We don’t even see the main character in uniform. Everything that happened overseas is left to the imagination, but Jennifer Lawrence’s expressions alone tell a towering tale of trauma.

Lawrence took a break from acting between Dark Phoenix and last year’s Don’t Look Up. While it wasn’t a long hiatus, it still felt like an eternity given how prevalent Lawrence was since her breakthrough work in Winter’s Bone. In Causeway, Lawrence gives her best performance since her Oscar-nominated (yet underrated) work in Joy. Lawrence plays Lynsey, who moves back in with her mother (Linda Emond) after an explosion. Lynsey made it through physical therapy, although she occasionally has trouble maintaining a grip. Her doctor is more concerned about her state of mind, but Lynsey insists that she’s ready to reenlist.

Most performances like this would build to a heated monologue or a moment where the lead breaks down in tears, i.e. “The Oscar Clip Scene.” Although Lawrence’s performance is deeply emotional, she plays Lynsey with guarded subtlety. She keeps everything inside, slowly revealing more about herself to the audience and Brian Tyree Henry’s James. A mechanic who lost his leg in an accident, James befriends Lynsey when her car breaks down. Romance is seemingly off the table, as Lynsey mentions that she’s only had girlfriends. Yet, there’s still an absorbing tension between the two as they try to figure out what they want from each other: love, friendship, somebody to drink with? Whatever becomes of their relationship, every moment they share on screen is magnetic.

While Lawrence is a certified movie star, Causeway is primarily comprised of stage actors. Tony-winner Jayne Houdyshell plays Lynsey’s nurse while Tony-nominee Stephen McKinley Henderson appears as her doctor. Even Henry started on the stage before hitting it big with projects like Atlanta. This isn’t surprising, as director Lila Neugebauer comes from a theatre background. She’s made an intimate debut feature that could’ve functioned as a play. With many scenes relying on visual storytelling, though, Causeway feels better suited for the screen.

Some may find Causeway slow, but even when nothing is happening on the surface, a lot is going on underneath. It’s refreshing to see a film that doesn’t spell out what the characters are going through. The closest thing we get to an exposition dump is when Lynsey explains her accident to her doctor, which makes sense. By the end, the audience still hasn’t entirely figured Lynsey out. That might be because Lynsey hasn’t figured herself out. However, we’re glad that we took this journey with her as she copes with loss, denial, and loneliness. At only 92 minutes, Causeway could’ve afforded to be ten minutes longer, if only to flesh out a few supporting characters. The central relationship between Lynsey and James, though, is more than enough reason to seek the film out.