EIFF 2013: This Is Martin Bonner

Martin Bonner (Eenhoorn) is at a lull in his life. An Aussie expat, he finds himself leaving his grown-up east-coast family and moving to Reno, Nevada for the only job he can get after three years of searching – transitioning ex-convicts into society. Through this new position, he forms a friendship with one of the people he mentors, Travis (Arquette), who’s been released into a city he does not know, following a 12-year stretch for involuntary manslaughter, and is desperate for help in getting a fresh start.

Chad Hartigan’s second feature is about people of a certain age trying to start over. It's a very deliberately paced film reliant on subtle gestures and composition work to convey character information. If this makes This Is Martin Bonner sound overly methodical, it’s most definitely not; huge warmth is emitted from beautifully realised performances and scripting. It’s a very low-key work content-wise, keeping to the same register throughout and leaving much open, but its minimalist tale truly moves and lingers.