Unrealized dreams, hidden personalities, and incapability through time are some of the ways a relationship can become undone. It’s often the routine of life and just overall familiarity that keeps any possible fissures at bay. Nora Kirkpatrick’s debut feature, “A Tree Fell In The Woods,” places two couples in a lovely cabin in the woods to celebrate the Christmas and New Year’s Eve holidays together. However, a lot can change in a weekend, and an accidental discovery of infidelity shakes up their snow globe of comfort, causing four characters to question everything.
The film doesn’t place complete blame on one person or people – it presents complications and anxieties that may resonate with the viewer. The epiphanies realized aren’t necessarily breaking the mold of comedic dramas of this ilk, and even the conclusion of finding answers to the “why” cheating or longing for something occurs. Nevertheless, there are some aspects of the film’s story worth exploring. Best friends since college, Debs (Alexandra Daddario) and Mitch (Josh Gad) are happy to see each other, as it’s been a minute. Debs is a novelist and editor struggling to finish her second book, and Josh is a businessman who might be a little high-strung. On this trip, they bring along their respective spouses: Josh (Daveed Diggs), a nature photographer, and Melanie (Ashley Park), a cookbook author in her own right who has a penchant for being overly polite.
Mitch and Debs go on a morning hike to catch up on their lives. As they are walking back to the cabin, they happen to spot Josh and Melanie hooking up. You would imagine anybody witnessing their spouse in the arms of another right in front of them would immediately confront them. Hell, that’s what Debs would like to do. However, Mitch wants to keep things quiet until he can decide what to do next. The reasoning mainly stems from his insecurities and his thinking that “he hit the jackpot” with Melanie. This terrible thing just happened, but what if I can’t do better?
Things get more complicated and tense when the couples find themselves snowed in. There’s nowhere to run or hide from what happened, and you might as well enter the new year with a better understanding of where you stand. Writer-director Nora Kirkpatrick splits the film’s second and third acts into scenes where the four will have time alone within the cabin or pair off in various circumstances. There are hard conversations to be had, and “A Tree Fell In The Woods” makes inroads with them. A choice is made with a mysterious type of booze that acts as a sort of psychedelic truth serum to get these characters there. We’ve all heard the saying “drunk minds speak sober thoughts.” Even with slight comedic overtones in the story – making that choice where the setting implores its characters to speak uncomfortable truths – undercuts the sincerity of the dialogue.
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Mitch is probably as successful as you can be as a banker, but he’s a bit insecure and hates his job entirely. Gad’s performance is the most eccentric and emotionally volatile of the four. It makes you realize that his character needs to calm down and come back to earth so he can see the truth in front of him. Park’s portrayal of Melanie is what makes the full circle moment of this couple work somewhat. Melanie loves Mitch, but sometimes love isn’t enough. She has lived some of her life trying to work up to an ideal that’s only appealing to him and not true to herself.
On the other hand, the details between Josh and Debs are more scattered and somewhat muddled. Josh’s battle with self-worth melts under the justifiable anger Debs is experiencing. It’s not until the final moments of “A Tree Fell In The Woods” that the audience will get a sense of his story. At that point, Debs and Mitch have spent more time together than it feels like Josh and Debs are just beginning. At that point, the story is ready to roll credits and we’re left with a skeletal portrait of who they two people are in tandem.
Relationships take work. The morphing of who we are in the process of a union that’s supposed to be forever can create obstacles, taking people on different paths. “A Tree Fell In The Woods” lays a specific question at the feet of four thirty-somethings: is it worth giving up your idea of nirvana with the chance that it would be too late to reverse course later? It’s terrifying to think about, even if you’re in a secure relationship. The film effectively portrays the feeling of scarcity in a sincere manner. It fails to allow its players to fully realize the other side of it.
“A Tree Fell In The Woods” premiered at 2025 Tribeca Festival.
