Deserving mention alongside Errol Morris’ wonderful 1981 documentary, Vernon, Florida, Amy Nicholson’s Happy Campers is an empathetic and heartfelt film. The doc is an empathetic and moving celebration of community. Nicholson examines the lives of the people who reside (seasonally) in the oceanside Inlet View trailer park on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. This is a place where residents crafted their little trailers into comfy vacation spots with views one would usually pay a pretty penny to experience. 

The reality of their impending eviction has come to light, as developers have purchased the land, making these the final weeks leading to the resident’s displacement.

Director Nicholson gets to the heart of what makes this such a tight community that has existed here for generations. The residents are from different states and different backgrounds, but they all come to this oasis every summer to fish and catch crabs, swim and have cookouts; everyone looking out for one another. Families interact with families until the whole campground feels like one big familial picnic. When one woman tells the camera, “I found my peace here. Peace in my soul.”, it becomes a touching testament to the connections and lifelong bonds forged amongst the residents.

As if we were watching characters in a Hal Ashby picture, Nicholson (working without a crew for the first time) captures the life stories of these good people with organic shooting style. She simply lets them exist as the camera captures the peacefulness of their time at the campground. Each one has a story to tell. Every tale brings out the humanity of the piece and endears these residents to the audience; allowing the documentary to become a part of the love and togetherness shared by its subjects.

Happy Campers doesn’t name the developers who bought the land, but focuses on the sadness felt by the people who have made lifelong friends during their Summers together. Even as the residents live it up during their final hours at the campground, their tomorrows will not be “just another” day. For many residents, it is impossible to take their trailers back with them and the pain of having to leave something that meant so much is unsettling. Some cannot take a lot of personal stuff with them, others pack everything they can and destroy what is left, so the corporation that purchased the property can’t profit on what is left behind.  

What is happening to these people is a microcosm of America. There needs to be a renewed commitment to making sure this country’s rural communities have a voice. Big corporations are not interested in rural Americans, just their lands. If it means displacement, the big companies pay it no mind as long as future profits are on the horizon. As one character heartbreakingly states, “They don’t think about the little people, and that’s what we are to them. Little people.”

While America sees housing prices continue to rise, communities such as this one are breaking apart. Corporate greed is making it nearly impossible for the working class to live on or near properties such as the one seen in this film. Close friends are forced to move farther and farther away from one another. No thought is given to how building communities can enhance both the economy and (most importantly) people’s lives. The people who populated Inlet View have become a part of one another’s lives and have found a place to belong. Now, that peace has been uprooted and thrown to the wind. It is nothing short of heartbreaking what has happened to these good folk, but Nicholson finds the beauty of their connections and lets the love they all share overpower the sadness.  

Happy Campers is about a community of good people in a sad time. Their connections are forever and the film ends with hope that they will see one another again. Perhaps a new campground somewhere else.

For now, it is as Macbeth spoke about another tomorrow, “Because tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time. It’s all just another day…”

Happy Campers

Directed by Amy Nicholson

NR, 80 Minutes, Myrtle & Olive