Tribeca Film Festival ’25: Nora Kirkpatrick Finds Her Rhythm in A Tree Fell in the Woods
By Caroline Cao | June 25, 2025 | Celebrity & Culture
The most potent comedies take full advantage of its talents, and Nora Kirkpatrick’s directorial debut A Tree Fell in the Woods delivers in its quirky psychological beats — even when its third act seems unsure where to spiral.
If we know our genre, a New Year’s Eve trip to a cabin in the woods in the middle of a blizzard would not predictably bode well, but it was at first an escape for childhood buds Mitch (Josh Gad) and Debs (White Lotus Alexandra Daddario) to take their respective spouses, Melanie (Emily in Paris Ashley Park) and Josh (Hamilton Daveed Diggs), to hide from all the problems of the world.
When Mitch and Debs take a stroll in the woods, they’re startled by a tree nearly collapsing on them. Their mutual laughter over their near-death experience, they rush back to the cabin and they see an enraging sight from afar: Josh and Melanie engaged in a sexual affair. Debs is feral to get vengeance, while Mitch is adamant they try to forget it to save their respective marriages. What follows is some razor-sharp comedic tension as Debs and Mitch dance around their truths with their spouses and friends.
Kirkpatrick knows how to steer her ensemble into psychological corners of teeth-gritting range and insecurities, choked back and spat out alike. If you doubted comedian Gad’s dramatic range, this movie will put that skepticism to rest when he matches the volcanic freak of Daddario. Park shines in her vulnerability (“I’m very disappointed in you,” she says to her reflection, as if channeling a parent). Diggs’ talents feel downplayed, but he is introspective as a man figuring out his wants. While at first glance, the drama on paper may seem more stagey than cinematic, Henry Hayes’s seamless editing and Mitchell Yoshida’s sardonic music can whip angry close-ups and medium shots into their own dance.
Kirkpatrick’s screenplay trails them down psychological breakdowns and confrontations, though the movie might wrap up matters more easily than justified by the descent into madness. Still, she accomplishes a dosage of magical realism that seems to enhance the insanity (you might believe at first you’re in a horror film disguised as a melodramatic comedy). I imagine Kirkpatrick’s next movie and screenplay could take it further.
