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Leave No Trace (2018) is an American film directed by Debra Granik that follows the story of a father and daughter who have been living in the Oregon forest apart from society. The movie is based on the 2009 novel, My Abandonment by Peter Rock, and focuses on the father, Will's, struggle adjusting back to life as a civilian after being a soldier in the war in Iraq and returning with PTSD. His solution is to move himself and his 13-year-old daughter, notably-named Tom, into a state park in Portland in isolation and venture into the city at various points to collect medications from the VA to sell to other people living off the grid. The story continues as Will and Tom are discovered, taken into custody of social services and connected with housing and work with the goal of assimilating into the community. They spend limited time in this community before leaving again into the wilderness at the insistence of Will, despite Tom's desire to continue this new life. After Will injures himself in the woods, Tom and Will are forced to receive help from and live within a small mobile home community for the duration of the movie. The plot explores the different perspectives that Will and Tom have adjusting to life in these communities and the way their perspectives ultimately shape their dynamic as father and daughter.
The film focuses on five main themes: the relationship between human and animal, the relationship between nature and industry, the relationship between a combat existence and civilian life, the relationship (present or absent) between mother and daughter, and the relationship between father and daughter.
Animals have a distinct role in human emotional life in all cultures, both metaphorically, demonstrated through their roles in poems, films and stories, and realistically in daily life (Akhtar & Volkan, 2005a, 2005b). Animals appear in several aspects of Leave No Trace and are used to care for the char