The highest grossing Australlian film at the box-office since The Dressmaker (2015), The Dry is a cinematographer’s dream (Stefan Duscio).
Adapted from the novel by Jane Harper, Melbourne-based detective Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) reluctantly returns to the farming community of his childhood to attend the murder/suicide funerals of schoolfriend Luke Hadler and his wife and son. It’s his first time he’s returned since the unsolved death of Ellie 30 years earlier, with many believing Falk was involved in some way. Tensions are high, prejudice runs deep – added to which the deaths of the Hadlers do not sit right.
The expansive, drought-affected spaces of the Wimmera wheat fields belie the claustophobic life in the fictional town of Kiewarra. Taking his time, director Robert Connolly weaves the two time-based stories into a single narrative. To understand the present is to know the past.
It’s a story well told, if a little slow, as Falk, with support from local policeman Greg (Keir O’Donnell), investigates. And whilst the outcome of the earlier death is somewhat predictable, its reveal provides opportunity to understand the prejudice and suspicion towards the city-dweller.
Expect a swag of Australian awards for the film at the end of the year.
(Update – won 2 out of 12 AACTA nominations for best adapted script and cinematography along with 2 Audience Choice Awards for best film and actor).
Rating: 64%
Director: Robert Connolly (Balibo, The Turning)
Writer: Harry Cripps (Penguin Bloom, Paws), Robert Connolly (Balibo, Blueback) – based on the novel by Jane Harper
Main cast: Eric Bana (Munich, Romulus My Father), Keir O’Donnell (American Sniper, Fargo), Genevieve O’Reilly (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Snowman)
Cinematographer: Stefan Duscio (The Invisible Man, The Turning)
An Opinion or Two 