Abigail Breslin and Matt Damon in
Stillwater.
Matt Damon and Lilou Siauvaud in
Stillwater.
Photo by Jessica Forde / Focus Features
The last we heard from writer/director Tom McCarthy, he was delivering one of the best movies about newspaper journalism in movie history,
Spotlight, which would go on to win Best Picture at the 2016 Academy Awards. His directorial follow-up,
Stillwater, is another one that feels ripped straight from the headlines, but is actually an original story about an estranged family, clashing cultures, and the lengths people will go to prove their innocence.
Matt Damon plays Bill, an Oklahoma native who works on oil rigs and in construction. His daughter, Allison (Abigail Breslin), is in prison in Marseilles, France, having been convicted of killing her girlfriend five years prior. Bill makes regular trips to France to bring Allison things she needs, although their relationship is strained due to Bill’s extended absences and alcoholism when Allison was younger.