A fairly good film I feel is largely let down by the fact that, to me, it drags its feet on the way to the fairly strong ending. At times it dips into a level of despair that comes across as practically misery porn, largely in very happenstance circumstances that exist solely to make the situation more bleak for the main characters. The last time that Clare and Billy come across a wandering slave band sticks out to me, as the two already had more than enough motivation and the film already established how brutal and monstrous they were, so it only serves to deal a crushing blow to Billy's wish to see his people in the north again, of which I wonder if there was a more organic way to do so. The plot generally feels like it resets when Clare and Billy first catch up to Hawkins' group and she fails to shoot, and around that time like there's a good three places the plot could have ended and felt good. I love the final scene with Clare and Billy at the beach, but this movie really felt as though it needed a slight trim. A tighter pace about 15-20 minute less would have improved the movie I feel.
The three rape scenes to begin the movie also felt borderline gratuitous. I say "borderline" because it is clearly setting up an scenario of extreme lose and the brutality of them fits in with the movie's overall tone and messaging, but given how clearly things are going to play out it comes across as almost voyueristic and is only held back by the fact it's too disgusting to reach that level. I'd also say a good part of me wishes I had more personal knowledge about Tasmanian aboriginals, because some of this stuff came across as potentially "white person writes black culture inaccurately".
There's a lot to like, though! A big one is the performances, as everyone felt like they turned in a good show, with Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr and Sam Claflin all turning in particularly strong performances. Aisling's use of expressions and handling of scenes with minimal or no dialogue feels like one of the highlights, Baykali's was consistent through the movie but felt like it spiked up strongly in the ending scenes and Claflin does well as an amped up lout representative of British oppression of the time period. And while the movie does at times descend into misery porn-esque feelings, it also uses the brutality to strong effect, of particular strength is Jago's death scene which is one of the more brutal and drawn out ones I've seen. It also works well with the callousness on display: It's easy to kill other people if you don't see them as people.
I must also say I am so glad there wasn't any pointless moralizing over Billy's vengeance at the end, an act certainly understandable and not equivalent in some way to their deeds. The injustice upon them was great and it is not as though they were going to change their ways by all indications. It does feel like Clare should have been more involved, though, given what happened to her throughout the film. The movie could have arguably been more thematic, but I'd say painting a picture of its era via this revenge flick is itself thematically opening up, and there's enough to read into if you want.
Overall, a thoroughly brutal movie that suffers from pacing issues and some specific nagging parts bouyed by acting performances, the final payoff at least being worth it and using its brutality to pain a strong picture of its purpose.
The three rape scenes to begin the movie also felt borderline gratuitous. I say "borderline" because it is clearly setting up an scenario of extreme lose and the brutality of them fits in with the movie's overall tone and messaging, but given how clearly things are going to play out it comes across as almost voyueristic and is only held back by the fact it's too disgusting to reach that level. I'd also say a good part of me wishes I had more personal knowledge about Tasmanian aboriginals, because some of this stuff came across as potentially "white person writes black culture inaccurately".
There's a lot to like, though! A big one is the performances, as everyone felt like they turned in a good show, with Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr and Sam Claflin all turning in particularly strong performances. Aisling's use of expressions and handling of scenes with minimal or no dialogue feels like one of the highlights, Baykali's was consistent through the movie but felt like it spiked up strongly in the ending scenes and Claflin does well as an amped up lout representative of British oppression of the time period. And while the movie does at times descend into misery porn-esque feelings, it also uses the brutality to strong effect, of particular strength is Jago's death scene which is one of the more brutal and drawn out ones I've seen. It also works well with the callousness on display: It's easy to kill other people if you don't see them as people.
I must also say I am so glad there wasn't any pointless moralizing over Billy's vengeance at the end, an act certainly understandable and not equivalent in some way to their deeds. The injustice upon them was great and it is not as though they were going to change their ways by all indications. It does feel like Clare should have been more involved, though, given what happened to her throughout the film. The movie could have arguably been more thematic, but I'd say painting a picture of its era via this revenge flick is itself thematically opening up, and there's enough to read into if you want.
Overall, a thoroughly brutal movie that suffers from pacing issues and some specific nagging parts bouyed by acting performances, the final payoff at least being worth it and using its brutality to pain a strong picture of its purpose.