Review | 'Causeway': Jennifer Lawrence & Brian Tyree Henry's healing touch as broken people

A still from Lila Neugebauer-directed 'Causeway', starring Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry.

Causeway is a psychological drama about a soldier who suffers a traumatic brain injury and struggles to adjust to life back home. Lawrence plays Lynsey, a soldier in the Army Corps, who has survived an explosion that results in a brain injury. The film begins with her going through transition and therapy with an elderly caretaker Sharon, played by Jayne Houdyshell, last seen as Bunny Folger in Only Murders In The Building (2021). Lynsey then heads home to New Orleans, to complete her recovery while staying with her mother, and the story unfolds from there.

Directed by debut filmmaker Lila Neugebauer, Causeway is Lawrence’s first shot at producing under her banner Excellent Cadaver. Neugebauer, a theatre director, lets the story tell itself. The camera is mostly still, just observing Lawrence as she tries to adapt to being back home while also going through a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

When Lynsey’s truck breaks down, she meets a mechanic named James, played by the incomparable Brian Tyree Henry. James has had a tragedy of his own, involving a car accident with his sister and young nephew. The two strike up an unlikely relationship, after Lynsey relies on his help for some errands. Lynsey and James each recognise that the other is broken and struggling to maintain a facade of normality. The friendship develops tenderly with each of them slowly revealing a little more about themselves, while actively choosing to not reveal the whole truth. Lawrence and Tyree Henry have an easy chemistry, and their scenes together are very relaxed.

Water plays a major role in Causeway, which was originally titled Red, White and Water. Lynsey’s role in the Army Corps is to work on dams, and when she returns home, she gets a job cleaning swimming pools. When Lawrence dives into one of her client’s pools, it is the only place where she feels calm and can disconnect from the trauma that she has survived. The movie builds to a quietly explosive scene in a swimming pool when James and Lynsey confront each other about their motivations and the half-truths that they have told the other.

Lynsey spends most of the movie thinking of her time at home as just a visit, waiting until she can get better and be deployed again. Both her mother and James are surprised at her intention to go back. But while her mother takes it as an opportunity to accuse Lynsey of running away again, James knows better than to question Lynsey, and lets her reach her own decisions. Lynsey’s doctor, played by Stephen McKinley Henderson, is sympathetic yet firm about the reality of her situation. When he eventually signs her waiver to return to the army, Lynsey decides to confront some of her unresolved issues. She goes to meet her brother, in a scene that adds an unexpected complication to her performance, but never seems manipulative.

Lawrence is in fine form, returning to her roots in indie film after her explosive act in Winter’s Bone (2010). She plays Lynsey with a quiet sadness, fully inhabiting the character from the costuming to the way she walks. Lawrence’s performance is a study in trauma, always on the knife’s edge of a panic attack when something doesn’t go as expected. Lawrence is a strong contender for the Best Actress categories this award season and will likely add a few trophies to her mantle.

The MVP (most valuable player) of the movie is Brian Tyree Henry, who shows he can play gentle despite his imposing size and demeanour, which he usually deploys to either comedic or villainous effect. Henry has been prolific with his supporting roles since his debut as rapper Paper Boi in Donald Glover’s Atlanta (2016). This is Henry’s best shot yet at awards recognition, after his single scene tour-de-force in 2018’s If Beale Street Could Talk.

The movie is set in New Orleans, from the multiple shots of Lawrence walking the streets to the vegetation around the homes and locations. One of the lighter scenes in the movies involves James and Lynsey bonding over sno-balls, a flavoured shaved ice confection native to New Orleans.

Causeway is ultimately a portrait of broken souls trying to open up and attempt to heal. The trauma is not as straightforward as an explosion or a car accident. Lynsey and James have to learn to live with themselves and with the world around them, and that is not an easy path to trace.

ALSO READ: Who is Jennifer Lawrence now?