The film follows the journey of Bill Baker (Matt Damon), an oil-rig roughneck with a messy past who travels to France to visit his daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin), in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit.
Confronted with language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system, Bill builds a new life for himself in France as he makes it his personal mission to exonerate his daughter. In the course of his search, he meets a French stage actress and single mother named Virginie (Camille Cottin, Call My Agent!, Family Business), who helps him.
Stillwater is a movie that tries to tell two tales of family redemption: Matt Damon’s Oklahoma oil rig worker is the most clunky and old-fashioned part of the movie, while the shot at renewal he gets from Virginie turns out more engaging.
Allison’s character is probably one of the most interesting characters in this film. She is such a complex character, but we unfortunately never really get to know her well.
Stillwater is or will be available in most theaters around the world.
Here’s the trailer: