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Directed by Kitty Green, who did The Assistant (which also has Julia Garner in it), it's a pretty good thriller (.
Two American college students take a working tourist job in a remote outback pub. Think Wake In Fright if, instead of just being molested by Donald Pleasance, the main characters are propositioned sexually by EVERYBODY.
It was quite good up until the very ending, which definitely felt like endings that I've written when I've been desperate to just finish a script.
It's a shame to see Baykali Ganambarr reduced to two lines in one scene after his amazing performance in The Nightingale
I really enjoyed this one! Like The Assistant, a lot of its thrills/power rely on suggestion and on the audience's willingness to contextualize things a bit. Both movies are about the subtle (and not so subtle) menace of "normal" scenarios -- the danger that can come from being in a remote place or just, y'know, having a job.
I thought this one did everything a second (narrative) feature should -- kept everything that was cool about the style of The Assistant, but brought it to a bigger, bolder, and maybe more accessible project. As with The Assistant, I think a lot of people will still just say "Well nothing happened in the movie," but so it goes.
Looked great and well acted. I didn't mind the ending, personally. Wishful thinking, but a rousing way to close nonetheless.
Agree heretic. I don’t know how anyone could claim “nothing happened” (unlike The Assistant, which was good but I can understand people finding it slow). This is unendingly tense.
I grew up in a small Aus town that hired a lot of backpacker temps in hospitality positions and it’s borderline slave labour - the movies completely believable until the last ten minutes
Finally watched this the other night and a big thumbs up from me. SPOILERS FOLLOW:
There's a brewing level of tension throughout that keeps you on the edge of your seat and it's interesting in hindsight because everything you fear for the girls doesn't actually happen, though the threats keep coming.
The ending does appear to come out of nowhere. On the one hand I liked where they took it - burning the place down did seem to be a deserving solution, on the other hand it seemed a bit Deus Ex Machina.
The fact the girls walked out with their backpacks and luggage when the bar was already burning seemed to contradict the spontaneous decision to set it alight.
Rather incredible too that neither girl was actually raped. When Liv ended up in that car with the door locked I thought for sure, but nope you can relax again. Daniel Henshall as Dolly is particularly chilling and Hugo Weaving plays drunk superbly.
One of my favs for the year. You'll enjoy it if you go in with low expectations. Terrific performances all round and a really good script for the fact it's menacing but not predictable with plot.
P.S. Ben, I'm right with you regarding Baykali Ganambarr, but am pleased he wasn't reduced to a stereotypical villain.