In its style and its themes, Avalanche melds the two disparate eras of his career, but what’s remarkable is how aware Green seems to be of this subtext. Although Rudd and Hirsch carve out unique and compelling characters, the real central character is the setting – a burned out forest, ravaged by recent wildfires – and it provides a perfect symbol of the state of Green’s career.

Emerging from the haze of his stoner comedies, could there be a better metaphor for the current state of the director’s career than a burned out forest? Green made his name with films that were deeply connected to the land, but he destroyed that era of his career by reinventing himself as a comedy director. Now he is seeking to rebuild, not by destroying the past but by acknowledging it. By finding himself in the ashes.