Matt’s Movie Review
A psychological western set during Australia’s formative years, Lucky Country explores the brutality of man when lured by the temptation of greed.
While recent Australian films have taken advantage of the sprawling landscapes which make the outback, director Kriv Stenders stays away from picturesque scenery and opts for the dense bushland as his backdrop: uncompromising, large and consuming, swallowing its inhabitants whole. It is there where we find a family torn apart and living only on the faith that God will deliver them from their affliction.
Stalkingly building up the tension to a fever pitch, Stenders unleashes hell when a closely guarded secret is uncovered, pitting child against parent; friend against friend. And just as Paul Thomas Anderson promised that There Will Be Blood, so too does Stenders deliver on the bloodshed as the dread of murder and rape haunts every dimly lit frame, proving that the depths mankind will succumb to for the attainment of wealth is the most tragic sin of all.
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