Mystery Road
(2013)It's a murder thing.
Slow-burning, modern-day western, centring on a police detective who returns to his hometown to undertake an investigation into the brutal murder of a teenage Aboriginal girl. The crime and the detective's presence bring the town's long-simmering racial tensions to the surface. Stars Aaron Pedersen, Jack Thompson and Hugo Weaving. From multi-talented Australian filmmaker Ivan Sen (Beneath Clouds, Toomelah) who serves as writer, director, editor, director of photography and composer.... More
"Set in the arid outback of Queensland, Mystery Road centres on Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), an Aboriginal police detective recently returned to his small hometown after a stint in the big city. When the body of a teenage Aboriginal girl is discovered, Jay is tasked with solving her murder. Both the violent crime and Jay's arrival unsettle the community, and Sen is unsentimental about revealing the harsh contrasts - white versus Aboriginal, past versus present, urban versus rural, poverty versus opportunity - that simmer within the town, isolated by mile after dusty mile of flat, red earth... a classically structured story about a lone hero fighting evil in his town - right up to the thrilling climax, an Australian version of Main Street at high noon." (Toronto International Film Festival)Hide
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Directed by Ivan Sen
Starring Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Jack Thompson, Ryan Kwanten, David Field, Damian Walshe-Howling, Tasma Walton, Tony Barry
Written by Ivan Sen
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Mystery Road
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Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Unflinching, insightful film about Aboriginal life in rural Australia features a revelatory central peformance from Aaron Pedersen. Full Review
Complex racial tensions add texture to an unorthodox Western. Full Review
With a cast of entertaining outback characters, plenty of dry humour and stunning landscapes, the slow-burning murder-mystery had a warm reception at its world premiere when it opened the Sydney Film Festival. Full Review
More successful as a sideways look at Australian race relations in microcosm than as an out-and-out thriller, Mystery Road still has much to recommend it, and most of Ivan Sen's work on the film is remarkable. Full Review
Recalls films such as No Country For Old Men with its bare-bones harsh reality set against the backdrop of a sun-soaked, baked outback. Full Review
An impressively crafted, immensely satisfying contempo thriller that astutely tackles the hot-button issue of tensions between indigenous and European Australians. Full Review
There are so many wonderful elements to the film that you wish the confusions had been ironed out more satisfactorily. Full Review
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