Red Hill

Set in the tiny high-country town of Red Hill, this Australian western thriller begins with city cop Shane Cooper (Ryan Kwanten) reporting for duty as a police officer in the remote and rugged titular outpost. Since his fragile, weepy wife, Alice (Claire van der Bloom), is very pregnant, Cooper leaves the car with her and walks to work, but his initial excursion into town is interrupted by the suspicion that a ravenous panther is on the loose, feasting on local livestock, and the news that a convicted killer, Aborigine Jimmy Conway (Tom E. Lewis), has escaped from a nearby maximum-security prison. As it turns out, Conway is determined to wreak blood-splattering revenge against those who he feels wronged him, particularly Red Hill sheriff “Old Bill” Jones (Steve Bisley). Writer-director Patrick Hughes evokes memories of the far-better Coen brothers' Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, with the difference being the filmmaker's referencing of Australia's deep-seated guilt over its shameful treatment of the native inhabitants. Morally simplistic yet admittedly suspenseful, Red Hill is a visually evocative but formulaic nail-biter. A strong optional purchase. (S. Granger)