The new film by Jennifer Kent is an unfiltered look at 1825 Tasmania through the eyes of an Irish convict named Claire. A horrific act of violence happens against Claire and her family which prompts her on a journey to find the perpetrator. Along the way she slowly befriends an aboriginal tracker that helps her on her journey.
This is not an easy film to watch. It contains horrific acts of violence that are terrible to watch that are consistent throughout the entire film. However, these horrific acts are necessary to show because they depict the truth in what happened in 1825 Tasmania. Jennifer Kent is very careful as to not glorify violence in any way and depicts more of the emotional impact rather than the violence itself. Many filmmakers would shy away from from depicting these events and just leaving hints as to what is happening but writer/director Jennifer Kent is brutally honest and true to the subject matter.
The lead role played by Aisling Franciosi, who plays Claire, is a truly Academy award winning performance and makes you feel like you are witnessing a real person. Along side Aisling Franciosi, is Baykali Ganambarr in his feature debut who is nonetheless astounding who plays the aboriginal tracker. The antagonist, Hawkins, who is played by Sam Claflin, is a brave and daring performance. Claflin often has to do things that many actors would never do. If nothing else, watch this movie for it's terrific performances around the board with not one weak link.
This film is beautifully shot in the backwoods of Tasmania with fantastic night scenes and an overall dreary and washed out tones. This perfectly matches the depressing nature of the script and also does so with the beautiful and haunting score. The production design is also commendable leaving you immersed in the environment. Stylistically, the film does exactly what it needs. It's not leaving you in awe of the visuals but is is using the visuals to accentuate the emotions of the characters.
At 2 hours and 16 minutes, this is very hard to sit through because it is consistently brutal and emotionally draining throughout the runtime. I would not recommend this film to those who are very sensitive but if you can stomach this one, give it a watch. Jennifer Kent has proven herself to be a talent to see. It is important to shine a light on our past so we do not forget the atrocities that humanity has committed so we cannot repeat them. This film does not let you forget the horrific events that took place in Australia and Tasmania but it shows them to you in a way that does not let you forget. This is an important film to see and if you get the chance, go see this one in theaters.
This is not an easy film to watch. It contains horrific acts of violence that are terrible to watch that are consistent throughout the entire film. However, these horrific acts are necessary to show because they depict the truth in what happened in 1825 Tasmania. Jennifer Kent is very careful as to not glorify violence in any way and depicts more of the emotional impact rather than the violence itself. Many filmmakers would shy away from from depicting these events and just leaving hints as to what is happening but writer/director Jennifer Kent is brutally honest and true to the subject matter.
The lead role played by Aisling Franciosi, who plays Claire, is a truly Academy award winning performance and makes you feel like you are witnessing a real person. Along side Aisling Franciosi, is Baykali Ganambarr in his feature debut who is nonetheless astounding who plays the aboriginal tracker. The antagonist, Hawkins, who is played by Sam Claflin, is a brave and daring performance. Claflin often has to do things that many actors would never do. If nothing else, watch this movie for it's terrific performances around the board with not one weak link.
This film is beautifully shot in the backwoods of Tasmania with fantastic night scenes and an overall dreary and washed out tones. This perfectly matches the depressing nature of the script and also does so with the beautiful and haunting score. The production design is also commendable leaving you immersed in the environment. Stylistically, the film does exactly what it needs. It's not leaving you in awe of the visuals but is is using the visuals to accentuate the emotions of the characters.
At 2 hours and 16 minutes, this is very hard to sit through because it is consistently brutal and emotionally draining throughout the runtime. I would not recommend this film to those who are very sensitive but if you can stomach this one, give it a watch. Jennifer Kent has proven herself to be a talent to see. It is important to shine a light on our past so we do not forget the atrocities that humanity has committed so we cannot repeat them. This film does not let you forget the horrific events that took place in Australia and Tasmania but it shows them to you in a way that does not let you forget. This is an important film to see and if you get the chance, go see this one in theaters.