‘Causeway’ Review: Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry bring their A-game
Jennifer Lawrence generated a lot of conversation by starring in one of the biggest films of last year – Adam McKay’s apocalyptic comedy Don’t Look Up. Now, she has decided to move away from the constructs of a big-budget production by delivering one of her most measured performances in Causeway – a quiet psychological drama directed by Lila Neugebauer.
Lawrence previously expressed disappointment about her recent run of films, and many fans share that sentiment. That’s exactly why Causeway feels like a breath of fresh air, featuring Lawrence as Lynsey, an American soldier who has to come back home after suffering a near-fatal brain injury in Afghanistan.
From the description of the narrative, it might feel like Causeway is just another tired drama about the horrors of war, but it focuses on something much more terrifying – the consequences faced by the survivors. We witness the human consequences of the military-industrial complex as the veteran struggles with rehabilitation and recovery.
Although Lawrence deserves praise for her return to her preferred domain of cinema, Causeway would fall flat without Brian Tyree Henry. The Atlanta star is brilliant as James, a local entrepreneur who develops a unique friendship with Lynsey, which is formed on the basis of their inconsolable grief and trauma.
During a conversation with The Daily Northwestern, Neugebauer explained that she wanted to deviate from other films about soldiers with PTSD by examining the future instead of the past. She said: “It was so potent that it affirmed for me that the focus of this film is not what happened before, which isn’t to say what happened before isn’t important. It’s hugely important, but the focus of the film is how to cope with it, how to live with it.”
While there are many elements to appreciate about Causeway, such as Diego García’s pleasing cinematography and the screenplay, which was co-written by the fantastic Ottessa Moshfegh, the film is clearly a vehicle for the two central actors. Both Lawrence and Henry are unflinching in their portrayal of grief and trauma, and it is their partnership that transforms Causeway into something special.
The film asks incisive questions about adulthood, substance abuse issues and other sociopolitical subjects, but Causeway is primarily concerned about the fundamental position of pain within the human condition. Since it isn’t as showy as some of the other popular projects which deal with the same ideas, Causeway is probably going to fly under the radars of many, which is a shame because it definitely deserves recognition for what it is: a symbiotic tour de force.
