Not necessarily the chunk of social realism most reviewers would lead you to expect, Debra Granik's Winter's Bone (2010) is actually a hybrid of sorts. Part mythical quest, part neo-Ozark-noir, it's as engaging as it is generic. The story concerns a 17-year-old Ree's search for her no-good father in order to keep the house she shares with her ailing mother and underage siblings. Her determination, good sense and resourcefulness are what carries the movie. Like Sam Spade, she engages in a string of ominous conversations under a heavy sky, taking no cues from the weather gods signaling "Caution!", as they're always are in noir.

Michał Oleszczyk: Winter's Bone (2010, Granik)