ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Lifestyle devider Life is brutal in 'Stillwater'

Life is brutal in 'Stillwater'

Published Nov 8, 2021 07:15 pm

Matt Damon stars as a passive father out for redemption

Over at GMovies and Upstream is Tom McCarthy’s "Stillwater" starring Matt Damon (Bill Baker) as a father trying to make up with his daughter, Allison (Abigail Breslin). The 140-minute film had its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Matt Damon travels to France to visit his daughter

The film starts with Bill working in a tornado cleanup of destroyed homes. Based in Stillwater, Oklahoma, he used to be an oil-rig worker and is now out of job. Stoic, his life is marred with past alcohol abuse and a cold relationship with his daughter.

Bill flies to France, not for a vacation but to visit his daughter in jail. We learn that Allison was in a high-profile case as an American student convicted of killing her Arab girlfriend.

Allison came to study in Europe, joined an outreach program, and fell in love with her unfaithful lover. She is serving her sentence for five years now and she wants to reopen her case to prove her innocence.

She gives him a letter addressed to Maître Leparq (Anne Le Ny), her attorney. But Bill takes matters in his own hands for he believes Allison is not capable of the crime. Leparq is very clear to the “absentee” father that the judge will not reopen the case due to “hearsay” and to not give any false hopes to his daughter.

Camille Cottin, Matt Damon, and Lilou Siauvaud

The biggest block in Bill’s search for the killer is the language barrier and he has no connection ever in Marseille. Enter Virginie (Camille Cottin), a theater actress who became Bill’s interpreter and eventually, rented her place to the father of the “criminal.”

It took an hour and 30 minutes of the film to seal their love, quite slow for any romantic relationship. Virginie’s daughter, Maya (Lilou Siauvaud), forms an extraordinary bond with Bill. He picks her up in school, cooks her food, and puts her to bed—special moments he missed when Allison was growing up because he was a “fuckup.”

Allison discovers that Leparq was not working on her case. “You’ve always lied to me, my entire life, always!” she shouts to her father. The relationship becomes strained again. To prove that he cares for his daughter, Bill decides to work in construction so he can stay longer in France.

Matt Damon as a dramatic actor proves his worth as a dysfunctional father with his rugged yet unsure self in this family drama-cum-thriller.

But Maya has a completely different experience with their tenant. “You’re my favorite,” she blurts. When Bill asks, “Favorite what?” she replies, “Favorite American.”

Matt as a dramatic actor proves his worth as a dysfunctional father with his rugged yet unsure self. He believes in redemption and second chances, no matter how brutal life has been.

Allison takes a one-day leave from prison and Bill brings her to the tombstone of Allison’s lover to grieve. He gives his daughter the freedom to enjoy the seascape. In their conversation, Allison realizes that when one is powerless and forgotten, living is really hard. One has to accept destiny to find peace.

Bill (Matt Damon) bids goodbye to Maya (Lilou Siauvaud)

Will Bill be successful in finding the real killer? In one football match at the Orange Velodrome, Bill sees Akim (Idir Azougli) in the crowd. He follows him and the film shifts from family drama to suspense thriller.

A new evidence has surfaced matching the DNA of a person (Akim) who was at the crime scene. Loosely based on Amanda Knox’s life, Allison’s fate moves in her favor.

Justice is served but a secret between the father and daughter reveals the truth behind "Stillwater."

Related Tags

stillwater Matt Damon Arts and Culture
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.