Jean-Marc Vallee tells the story of Cheryl Strayed, based on her memoir by taking us right onto the Pacific Crest Trail with her. The journey is of self-discovery and grieving her mother's death, and Vallee shows this by using flashbacks which are connected to the thoughts that Cheryl is having along her hike. Thoughts of her sleeping with any man who would ask after her mother's death, and thoughts of her mother in various moments from her childhood until the day she died. These thoughts reveal the source of Cheryl's pain and the reason she is trekking over 1,000 miles--to grieve and find herself after an intense season of life.
Vallee is ambiguous in his use of Cheryl's sexual encounters early in the film to the point that we could believe that it potentially was Paul that cheated on her. As Cheryl's journey continues Vallee makes it more clear, as if making Strayed's pain and grief more clear as she comes to terms with her life as she pieces herself back together one step at a time on the PCT.
Vallee also incorporates the memoir into the film by using it as a voice over for Cheryl as she journals at night. It is a way of connecting the audience to the book in a simple yet effective way that allows the true feeling of the story to stay alive in the picture. And the ending of the film grabs this beautifully as it ends as the book does with Strayed speaking about her life to come.
Finally, Vallee uses each person on the journey to express the different emotions that Strayed experienced on her journey. From fear to pain, sadness, joy, peace, loneliness and love. Each character had an emotional impact based on the emotional state of Cheryl during the story which elevates the film by deepening it for the audience to experience exactly what she's going through during her journey of a thousand miles.
