Old Joy

film by Reichardt [2006]

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July 23, 2026

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Old Joy is a 2006 film directed by Kelly Reichardt. The movie follows two friends whose paths have diverged as they attempt to reconnect on a camping trip in the Cascade Mountains near Portland, Oregon. Reichardt's films are characterized by their slow pace, naturalistic style, and focus on subtle human emotions and relationships, often set in the Pacific Northwest. Old Joy was financed by Reichardt with a $30,000 inheritance and marked the maturation of her signature understated style, using natural settings to underscore ambivalent human relationships. Critic Roger Ebert noted the film's ability to convey drama through pauses and glances, with unarticulated tensions and feelings of sorrow and dread running beneath the surface.12

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Kelly Reichardt
River of Grass and Old Joy
…directed her second full-length movie, Old Joy, whose production she financed with a $30,000 inheritance from a great-aunt. The film, written by Reichardt and novelist Jonathan Raymond, with whom she collaborated on several subsequent movies, follows a pair of friends (played by Daniel London and musician Will Oldham) whose paths…
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…directed her second full-length movie, Old Joy, whose production she financed with a $30,000 inheritance from a great-aunt. The film, written by Reichardt and novelist Jonathan Raymond, with whom she collaborated on several subsequent movies, follows a pair of friends (played by Daniel London and musician Will Oldham) whose paths…
Read More