SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
From writer-director Jennifer Kent, comes an unapologetically brutal tale that happens in a British penal county during 1825 Australia. With a simple and engaging screenplay, loaded with shocking incidents and supported by pointy dialogues, she gives every viewer an unretractable gut punch that'll take us months, even years to recover from!
We follow Clare (Aisling Franciosi), a former convict living in peace with a family, seeking for her letter of freedom from Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin). Sadly, being a woman at that time and age, she's treated poorly, and 'poorly' is an extreme understatement here. We're talking multiple rapes along with Lieutenant Hawkins' troop killing her husband and child on the same day. Hereon after, we join her quest for revenge with a tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) guiding her through.
The rest of the plot is less about her ultimate goal than it is about the relationship she develops with Billy. Their banters are hilarious plus there's a steady progression in terms of character motivations and how their relationship changes over the course of the film. Clare and Billy start off hating each other's company before finding commonality between them. The tracker becomes a protector, and the protector transforms into a punisher who helps both of them achieve redemption. Clare drowning across high and fast river, Billy eating at the table with white folks, Clare pretending Billy's a slave to prevent any ill fate upon him, finding her way to the main road with the aid of a blackbird and both these two stealing food from a stranger's hut are some of their journey's snapshots. While we do get to witness Lieutenant Hawkins speared at the end, it's the way Clare chooses to finally face her abuser / fear that's unconventionally fascinating!
However, the physical / external plot is noticeably thin with little event variations. We see repetitions of the lead pair wandering in the wilderness and Clare's traumatic dream sequences occupying a good portion of the runtime. But this is not to say the movie isn't captivating. For one, the sheer atrocity committed by Lieutenant Hawkins and his henchmen are enough to keep you on alert! Raping indigenous lady, cutting head for trophy, murdering Charlie the tracker (Charlie Jampijinpa Brown) and the kid assistant assassination are instances. Jennifer Kent sure didn't baulk at all to brick-up her celluloid in realism, with bleakness and sorrow hanging over it as roof tiles!
Technically, the feature is clean. Camerawork and lighting here are the work of experts! The night clouds, moon, rain, forest, landscapes and bonfires scream a fictional universe you'd love to live in, minus the horrific people inhabiting it of course! Sound design is otherworldly! The songs, hymns and cricket noise are soothing to lend your ears to! Costumes and set designs are faithful to the era, and the black sidebars just add to that same effect.