Matt Damon pulls up to the Sonic Drive-In on 6^th Street in Stillwater, orders a Sonic burger, tots, and a cherry limeade, and prays over his Sonic meal to kick off the latest film from Oscar-winning director of “Spotlight,” Tom McCarthy. Matt Damon’s Bill Baker is a performance that is sure to go down in history as an unsuspected, but powerful role for Damon. This character, built upon backyard bbq’s in Marlow, Oklahoma, trips to McNellie’s Pub in OKC, and visits with actual roughnecks across the state; Bill Baker is the quintessential image of Oklahoma’s roughnecks.

“Stillwater” released out of competition at the 74^th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on July 8^th and ended in a well-deserved standing ovation that brought the star of the film, Matt Damon, to tears. Damon noted during a press conference for the film the next day that, although it was his 5^th return to Cannes, it “felt like the first time… To be in a room with a thousand other people who are strangers, but who are part of the same community ‘cause we all love the same thing. It was such a great reminder of why we do this.”

Initially inspired by the Amanda Knox case and the immeasurable love that a father has for his daughter, “Stillwater” is the redemption arc of a down-home, Oklahoman roughneck father who has failed his daughter for much of her life – being gone on jobs throughout the majority of her childhood, and turning to alcohol and drugs while he was home. Bill Baker’s daughter, Alison, played by Abigail Breslin, is in prison in Marseilles for the murder of her college girlfriend after deciding to leave Oklahoma State University to go to school in France for no other reason than “it was different – far away.” 

Damon’s Bill Baker, now clean and sober, tries as hard as he can to repair the relationship with his daughter that he shattered so long ago, feeling guilty for the position that she’s found herself in. Alison’s mother killed herself when Alison was just a child, but Bill still has lunch with his mother-in-law and even tries to help her pay his bills with money that he barely has enough of himself. Bill is on his latest two-week trip to Marseilles to visit his daughter in prison, to do her laundry, and to bring her new pieces of home. The image of a gold “Stillwater” necklace in the airport giftshop serves not only as the film’s title card inspiration, but will become the glue that pieces together the plot at hand throughout a number of twists and turns that leave the audience constantly questioning.

Upon arriving at his trusty Marseilles Best Western Hotel, Bill is met with rowdy neighbors. Camille Cottin’s single mother, Virginie, and young daughter Maya who is played by a scene stealing Lilou Siauvaud are staying in the room next door while their apartment is being repaired. Virginie would soon become Bill’s confidante, helping him to navigate the culture shock of being an Oklahoman in France. After learning about a new piece of intel that might help to find the real killer of Alison’s college girlfriend, Bill is tasked with staying in Marseilles as the lead is investigated. When Alison’s lawyer refuses to look into the tip, Bill moves in with Virginie and Maya, creating a platonic family structure that allows him the chance to be the father that he never could be to Alison – if he can only manage not to screw it up over the months he spends in Marseilles.

A far cry from “Jason Bourne” but mirroring the emotion of his breakout role in “Good Will Hunting,” Damon’s performance, while not career defining, was certainly the honest and intimate role the actor has been looking for. Damon’s Bill Baker feels like the brutally honest roughneck that he aimed to be, never questioning his motives or beliefs; most memorably when Virginie tells him he’s “acting very American,” to which he responds “Good, because I am” and not offering a moment of hesitation when asked by his French counterparts if he voted for Trump or if he owns any guns. Bill Baker is a caricature of the values of the Oklahoma roughneck, without ever becoming too cartoonish or offensive. The months that Damon spent around Oklahoma, studying people and culture, served him well in his portrayal.

The film yearns to address not only on how the French see Americans, but how the “justice” that people think they seek isn’t actually justice at all. Casting a light on broken government systems both at home and abroad without reaching too far into the controversial, political cookie-jar, McCarthy balances his plot along the line of the lengths a father will go to protect his daughter and the way Bill’s growth throughout the film leaves him forever changed.

“Stillwater” challenges the audience’s expectations for the film and leaves golden easter eggs throughout that manage not to distract from the mystery and immediacy of the plot. The twists and turns of the story land on a brutally emotional and unexpected final scene that is sure to leave audiences with the message that was always at the core of the film. The ending offers the characters a chance at a new beginning in a world that Bill Baker no longer recognizes; knowing that he can never again return to the home and the rose-colored vision of the world that he once knew and held so dear to his heart.

“Stillwater” had its world premiere at Festival de Cannes 2021 on July 8^th. Focus Features will release it in theaters in the United States on July 30^th.