Writer-director Ivan Sen's laconic, racially-tinged police thriller is suspended somewhere between the mythic and the moody, with an ominous narrative that commands attention. Mystery Road is set in a corner of the Australian Outback known as Massacre Creek, where rookie police detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), of Aboriginal descent, serves on the laidback local force in the torpid native settlement where he grew up and left behind a daughter and ex-lover a decade before. When the corpse of an indigenous teenager is found by the roadside showing signs of addiction and brutalization, Swan learns that the insular community has been haunted by the shadow of drugs, disappearances, and rumors of child prostitution/victimization by outsiders. Swan also discovers that his fellow officers are curiously unconcerned about the crimes, and that his own wayward daughter may be somehow involved. Filmmaker Sen uses the wide skies, blazing sunsets, and long horizons in a way reminiscent of the Coen Brothers' incorporation of wintery landscapes in Fargo, capturing a distinct regional flavor while also creating an environment of foreboding and danger that will pay off in a violent finale. Also featuring noted Australian actors Hugo Weaving and Bruce Spence in supporting roles, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)
Mystery Road
Well Go USA, 120 min., not rated, DVD: $24.98, Blu-ray: $29.98 Volume 30, Issue 2
Mystery Road
Star Ratings
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