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Downriver
Australia 2015
produced by Jannine Barnes, Kristian Moliere (executive), Shaun Miller (executive), Tony Nagle (executive) for Happening Films, Screen Australia
directed by Grant Scicluna
starring Reef Ireland, Kerry Fox, Robert Taylor, Helen Morse, Tom Green, Charles Grounds, Lester Ellis jr, Steve Mouzakis, Alicia Gardiner, Shannon Glowacki, Sebastian Robinson, Eddie Baroo, Elena Mandalis, Elise McCredie, Paige Reinheimer, Lee Cormie, Daryl Suter, Luke Tieri, Oliver Achen, Rory Mackenzie, Aaron Rowlands, Nick Sumner-Wright
written by Grant Scicluna, music supervisor: Andrew Kotatko
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Young James (Reef Ireland) has just been released from prison where he
was sent for drowning young Chris (Oliver Achen) when he was still a boy
himself. Thing is, he doesn't know whether he has actually killed him, he
had a epileptic seizure when or shortly after the boy drowned, and should
his mother not persuaded him to confess to the authorities, he would have
just fled the scene like little boys do. What made headline in this case
though was that the body actually disappeared before the police even
arrived at the scene, and James was a tailor-made culprit for the public,
and since he due to his seizure could not say anything in his defense, it
was easy to send him to jail. But now out, and met with suspicious eyes
everywhere, and guilt-ridden on top of it, he tries to find out what has
really been going on back in the day, and why Chris's body actually never
has been found. But while investigating, he has to find out nobody is too
keen about him digging further, and it deeply affects his mum (Kerry Fox)
as well as an innocent neighbour boy (Charles Grounds) who just wanted to
be friends with him, and the behaviour of James' former best friend
Anthony (Thom Green), who was actually there when Chris died but whom
James successfully tried to cover, really gets out of hands - and before
he knows it, James is in it deeper than he ever intended to. Despite
being a whodunit, narration-wise, Downriver is a very lyrical film
in tone, choosing an intentionally slow but well-flowing pace to tell its
story, relying heavily on atmosphere rather than dialogue, getting the
most of its locations, from its impressive landscape to trailer park
tristesse, and keeping the mystery elements of the story subdued in favour
of the characters' inner workings, represented by silences, gazes and the
like. Now add to that some really strong yet subtle performances and
you've got yourself a pretty good, rather unusual film!
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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