There's a significant distinction between portraying something as mystical versus simply mystifying, and writer-director Morissa Maltz’s second film falls short in recognizing this difference. This dreamlike story about a Native American woman—played by Lily Gladstone—dealing with the death of her grandmother follows her on what feels like a personal quest across the Midwest and Southern Great Plains. Leaving Minneapolis, she initially travels to South Dakota for her cousin's wedding and to reconnect with family and culture, particularly the influence of ancestors and spirit guides in daily life. From there, she journeys to Texas hoping to find a connection to her grandmother’s legacy in the Big Bend region, a place that was important to her nana. Along the way, she encounters various people and situations that reinforce her ties to a heritage she seems to have distanced herself from earlier in life. Initially, it appears this narrative could be an illuminating and inspiring exploration of self-discovery, which it is to some degree. However, these themes aren't explored as fully as they could be. While it’s understandable that a story like this might naturally possess an enigmatic quality, it’s so understated that it becomes obscure, even confusing. The filmmaker says the narrative draws from her own experiences, but that may be the core issue—she seems too personally invested in the material to effectively communicate what she intends to convey to viewers. A structure for these themes appears to be present, yet many scenes are handled with such vagueness that audiences might struggle to understand the filmmaker’s message or even what's happening. This is compounded by a lack of development for the main character, which provides little background and limited clarity on what she hopes to achieve through this journey. As a result, the film relies heavily on unexplained reaction shots, along with narrated stories from other characters and numerous beautiful landscape shots that capture the region’s expansive scenery but don't contribute much substance; it feels like they were added to extend the already brief 1 hour and 25-minute runtime. The overall style is reminiscent of the films made by Terrence Malick and Chloé Zhao (especially “Nomadland” (2020)), filmmakers whose works are often challenging but ultimately more accomplished than what’s presented here. Ultimately, "The Unknown Country" feels like a lost chance to offer meaningful insight into an individual's life and the traditions of a culture that could have been encouraging for others facing similar challenges. Instead, it comes across as a series of disconnected images and underdeveloped storylines that held promise but never quite reached their potential.

Source on TMDB