An ostensibly random encounter turns into an elaborative secret operation against a prime suspect of a heinous crime.
Slow-burn, dark, compelling, and different! The Australian filmmaking school at its best! The introduction, disclosure, and development of Mark and Henry will blow you out of the water. This is the character development that film schools refer to. Who they were in the first act and who they are revealed to be in the end will keep applying constant pressure against your chest. By unfolding these characters along with the mission’s extent and nature, writer/director Thomas M. Wright creates a mixture that slowly and mentally painfully comes closer and closer to imploding. The charismatic thespians Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris put heart and soul into their characters, and while I usually say “shine” in front of the camera, in this instance, they put life’s light out, hence that constant pressure on your chest. Jada Alberts’ performance immensely contributes to the deprivation of the human psyche’s light.
There is not much I can say without ruining the experience for you, so I can only urge you to turn off your lights and put your phones on silent mode to enjoy an incredible Australian cinematic experience. The script is solid, the editing converts the story into an intricate plot, and you get to know everything when you need to and not when you want to. Interestingly, what you don’t get to know is hinted at or implied, leaving it up to you to interpret it – the polar opposite of what Hollywood offers.
The beginning and ending are visual poetry. The narrated images express feelings that eerily initiate and befittingly conclude this journey. Based on Katie Kyriacou’s book and a real-life haunting case, Wright creates a dark and heavy-on-the-soul masterpiece that, once seen, will not be easily forgotten.
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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
