Strangerland (2015) - Farrant debuts with creepy piece of Aussie dirt

♥♥♥♥

 

+ Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.01 Times

 

Nicole Kidman, just about unrecognizable, finds herself in a sandstorm on this unusual, curiosity-sparking poster for Kim Farrant's Strangerland

 

A family under pressure move to a small town in a heat-plagued part of the Australian outback, where their two kids after a while disappear, and the two parents deal with the troubling situation very differently.

 

Strangerland moves closer and closer to us like a creeping quiver as a parental nightmare and another film that rests assuredly in the local subgenre that I've dubbed 'Aussie dirt'; films that have oppressive story-lines (incest, drugs, abuse, murder and neglect are popular elements) set against Australian landscapes.

SPOILER The ending of Strangerland is left open, which is somewhat unsatisfying, - although I know what I think is up and down, (and it isn't comforting.) But the film is well photographed, by P. J. Dillon (Penny Dreadful (2014-15)), and it becomes a tense and fascinating watch especially due to its three stars, who all give outstanding performances: Joseph Fiennes (American Horror Story (2012-13)), Hugo Weaving (True Love and Chaos (1997)) and particularly Nicole Kidman (Billy Bathgate (1991)) as the afflicted mother is customarily intense and simultaneously realistic in her portrayal.

Strangerland is written by Michael Kinirons (Lowland Fell (2008, short)) and Fiona Seres (Love My Way (2004-07)) and directed by feature-debuting Kim Farrant (Bombshell (2008, short)).

 

Related posts:

 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

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2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

 Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 0.1 mil. $

= Mega-flop

[Strangerland premiered January 23 (Sundance) and runs 112 minutes. Farrant has reportedly stated that it took 13 years to get the film made. It was shot in and around March 2014 in New South Wales, Australia. The film was only in release in North America for 3 days, in which is was #51 and grossed 17k $ in 15 theaters (17 % of the total gross). That was its 3rd biggest market. The two biggest were Russia with 22k $ (22 %) and Portugal with 18k $ (18 %). It additionally made 924k $ on home-market (Australia I guess, because it is an Australian-Irish co-production) video-on-demand, but it doesn't change its status as a mega-flop. Critics were divided on the film: Strangerland is rotten at 39 % with a 5.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Strangerland?