Causeway movie review: A character study lacking in depth

Lila Neugebauer’s Causeway presents an introspective character study of Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence), a soldier who is forced to go back home to New Orleans due to a traumatic brain injury. She wants to get redeployed, but her doctor (Stephen McKinley Henderson) thinks she isn’t ready.

Lynsey works as a pool cleaner and meets mechanic James Aucoin (Brian Tyree Henry) after her truck breaks down. The two start to develop a friendship that could blossom into something more, but their past trauma makes their relationship feel slightly distant.

*Warning: the following review contains mild spoilers for Causeway*

There’s no denying that Jennifer Lawrence gives one of her career-best performances as Lynsey, and it’s a welcome change of pace for her after the dreadful Don’t Look Up.

There is enough positive buzz surrounding her performance that could make her snag another Oscar nomination, and I would see it. She’s at times extremely composed and quiet, but there’s always something haunting her in the back of her head.

Causeway has wonderful performances but lacks character development

You don’t need to know much about Lynsey before stating that she isn’t fit for redeployment, as much as she wants it to be. Much emotional complexity simmers in Lawrence’s performance, as quiet as it is, but that’s always the sign of a great actor: say more with less.

Lawrence manages to hold most of the film’s emotional core without doing, or saying much — her facial expressions of despair and anguish convey the character, and what she is going through with her mother (Linda Emond, also excellent) and brother (Russell Harvard), in the film’s most emotional scene.

Lynsey wants to get redeployed not necessarily because she is mentally fit for the task. She wants to get away from her life in New Orleans, and the pain that brought her to deal with her brother, now in prison, and her mother who has neglected her since she was a child. The movie’s best sequence occurs near the end, where she visits her brother in prison, and opens up to her in what is conveyed as the first time she visits him in jail.

It’s not an easy sequence to watch and Causeway isn’t an easy movie to observe if you were ever afflicted (or are still living) with trauma. However, Neugebauer portrays the scene in a thoughtful light and gives the number one reason for Lynsey to stay where she is, and it’s pretty remarkable to see Lawrence commit to the truth of her character from the film’s harrowing opening scene to the end.

Lawrence shares terrific chemistry with Brian Tyree Henry, who also gives an impactful performance as James. As much as James is fun to hang around with, he also has a tortured past filled with grief, regret, and trauma.

They both complete one another, but their relationship isn’t necessarily filled with positive thoughts. There are many scenes involving both characters that are sweet and funny, but it’s the sequences during the film’s latter half that held my attention the most, particularly a poolside conversation where James opens for the first time about an accident that led to the loss of his left leg. Again, not an easy watch, but one wrought with massive emotional power thanks to its main stars who do most of the film’s heavy lifting.

But, as much as the movie contains great performances, they can’t make up for the massive lack in character depth. The actors are skilled in giving much of what we should know about the character, and yet the entire story feels undercooked. What does Causeway actually want to talk about beyond its characters? What does it want to say on trauma, grief, and letting go of the past? It remains unclear as the movie ends. It’s a shame, because the film could’ve been something truly poignant, and go beyond its incredible performances.

A great movie has impeccable performances that accompany an emotionally-charged story. And while Causeway‘s main throughline is impactful enough, its massive lack of development in the story and character department hinders most attempts at lifting the film up more than a decent enough actors’ showcase. The film should still be seen for Lawrence and Tyree Henry’s screen presence, but won’t be remembered much for anything else.

Causeway is now available to stream on Apple TV+.