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Living in the US you become accustomed to big budgets and have to occasionally venture into foreign language European (French and Dutch cinema) to realize that great acting and gripping stories abound throughout the world. Here is a superbly filmed Australian thriller, the natural settings when captured in their entirety add a fantastic sense of isolation, fear and entrapment concurrently. The acting was spot on and you felt Hanna's various struggles with loss (but distinct lack of closure), alcoholism and also the lack of belonging as an outsider. Particularly marked were her dual portrayals of a mother needing to do right the thing for her son at all costs and at the same time her vulnerability as a recently separated partner, recovering alcoholic and lone female in an adverse situation. My only criticism is the vivid existence in the cane field, where these consoling imaginations or a local phenomenon and whether the film was truly horror or thriller. Really worth the watch and a very realistic ending that tied up the loose ends and means I can actually get to sleep tonight - highly recommended and could easily have filled a 6 part TV series. Great Aussie movie.
score 9/10
peterrogers-43143 10 April 2021
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6797272/ |
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